MORGAN-OWEN John Garth

John Morgan-Owen was born in 1883. Known as Little Gurth, he was the 5th child of Timothy Morgan-Owen and Emma. He attended Bromsgrove School from 1898 to 1902 where he was School Monitor and played for the XV and XI teams (Captain). He won a Scholarship from Colit House, Rhyl and at the end of his time at Bromsgrove he obtained a Cookes Exhibition at Worcester College, Oxford. He speedily became valuable in the XI for four seasons and in the XV for three. At Oxford John took up hockey and obtained his half-blue. After taking his degree in 1904 he went as a master to Stonehouse, Broadstairs; later he was Senior Master at St George’s College, Quibnes, Buenos Aires whence he returned to take a commission. Gurth lost his life in the siege of Kut Al Amara (7th December 1915 – 29th April 1916). Known as the first battle of Kut, the Indian garrison in Kut, one hundred miles south of Baghdad was besieged by the Ottomans. Several relief expeditions were sent and were involved in desperate attacks on strongly entrenched lines carried out in cold, mud and rain, and in circumstances of the greatest hardship to the troops. Gurth was killed in the night attack on Sannaiyat when over half the men were casualties. After the battle Turks and Arabs were seen killing and stripping the wounded. Gurth was initially buried where he fell, his grave marked by a cross, by his brother Gethin. Kut fell on 29th April in one of the most humiliating capitulations of the British Army.

Source: Bromsgrove School at War 1914-19 by Philip Bowen and Bromsgrove School at War 1914-19 by David Cross.