The Queens Own Royal West Kent R

The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment

Captain R L Pillman

Photograph by Pearlady

Captain Robert Lawrence PILLMAN, "D" Company, 10th Battalion, Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment, died of wounds, (received on 8th July 1916, following a reconnaissance raid), at Armentieres, 9th July 1916, age 23.

Born 9th February 1893, Sidcup, Kent, third and youngest son of Joseph Charles and Mary Anna Pillman, of The Cottage, Footscray Lane, Sidcup, Kent.

1911 Census - Rugby School - Robert Lawrence Pillman, boarder, age 18, single, schoolboy, born Foots Cray, Kent.

1911 Census - The Cottage, Footscray Lane, Sidcup, Kent - Joseph Charles Pillman, head, age 54, married, grain and flour merchant, employer, born Plymouth, Devonshire; Mary Anna Pillman, wife, age 53, married 27 years, 6 children, all still alive, born Plymouth, Devonshire; Mary Kathleen Pillman, daughter, age 25, school teacher, worker, born Foots Cray, Kent; Emma Christine Pillman, daughter, age 24, medical student, born Foots Cray, Kent; Joseph Hurrell Pillman, son, age 22, grain and flour merchant, worker, born Chiselhurst, Kent; Charles Henry Pillman, son, age 21, commercial clerk, worker, born Chiselhurst, Kent; Sophia Margaret Pillman, daughter, age 13, school, born Foots Cray, Kent; Etta Hitchens, age 34, nurse domestic, born Swindon, Wiltshire; Eva Wells, age 24, parlour maid, domestic, born Five Oak Green, Kent; Nina Lily Wells, servant, age 16, house maid, domestic, born Snodland, Kent.

Played Rugby Football for the XV at Rugby School, for Blackheath for several seasons and gained his International cap for England against France in 1914. England Rugby Remembering. Won the Gold Medal of the London Solicitor's Golfing Society. Formerly trainee solicitor.

Enlisted & posted Lance Corporal, 10th Battalion Royal Fusiliers,. Service No.200, at the outbreak of war, and was gazetted to a commission in July, 1915; January 1916, promoted Captain; 4th May 1916, posted BEF, Brigade Bombing Officer.

23rd January 1917, Probate - Robert Laurence Pillman, The Cottage, Foots Cray, Kent, died 8th July 1916, in France, killed in action. Administration London to 23rd January to Joseph Charles Pillman, J.P. Effects £219 12s 5d.

11th September 1926, Probate - Joseph Charles Pillman, The Cottage, Foots Cray, Kent, died 13th July 1926. Probate London 11th September to Mary Anna Pillman, widow, Mary Kathleen Pillman, spinster & Joseph Hurrell Pillman & Charles Harry Pillman, corn factors. Effects £51277 13s 4d.

20th September 1926, Probate - Robert Laurence Pillman, The Cottage, Foots Cray, Kent, died 8th July 1916, in France. Administration London 20th September to Mary Anna Pillman, widow. Effects £98 12s 6d. Former Grant P.R. 23rd January 1917.

University of London Student Records - PILLMAN Robert Laurence (University College); Captain, Royal West Kent Regiment, (died of wounds 8th July 1916).

Buried at Calvaire (Essex) Military Cemetery, IV. D. 10., Belgium. Commemorated Sidcup War Memorial / Murton Court Preparatory School, Sidcup, Kent

London Gazette 17th August 1915.

The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). 10th Battalion (Kent County).

The under mentioned to be temporary Second Lieutenants - Dated 9th July, 1915. Robert Laurence Pillman.

London Gazette 25th October 1915.

The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment).

The under mentioned temporary Second Lieutenants to be temporary Lieutenants. Dated 2nd October, 1915.

Robert L. Pillman.

London Gazette 17th January 1916

The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). Temporary Lieutenant Robert L. Pillman to be temporary Captain. Dated 20th December, 1915.

OBITUARY

Captain Robert Lawrence Pillman - 10th (Service) Battalion, The Royal West Kent Regiment.

Robert Lawrence Pillman was the third and youngest son of Joseph Charles Pillman, J.P., C.C., Kent, of The Cottage, Foots-Cray, Kent, and of Mary Anna his wife.

He was in the School from 1907 to 1911, and was in the XIV and the XXII in 1910.
After leaving Rugby he was articled to Meesrs. White and Leonard, Solicitors, Ludgate Circus, and at the outbreak of War he had passed the Intermediate Law Examinations of London University and the Law Society. He played Rugby Football for Blackheath for several seasons, and gained his International Cap for England against France in 1914. He also won the Gold Medal of the London Solicitors Golfing Society.

At the outbreak of War he enlisted in the 10th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, and received a Commission in the 10th Royal West Kent Regiment in July, 1915. He was promoted Lieutenant in October, 1915, and Captain in 1916. He left for the Front in May, 1916, and volunteered for special duty in leading the bombing raids, and was supported by about fifty volunteers of all ranks who had great confidence in him as a leader and a soldier.

He was hit on the parapet, near Armentieres, whilst bringing back his men from a raid late at night and died from his wounds after a few hours, July 9th, 1916, aged 23.

Letters from his brother Officers show that his Company Officers had every faith in him as a leader and perfect soldier, and speak of his noble example he set by volunteering at once for any dangerous undertaking, such as the raid in which he fell, while his cheery, open-hearted nature endeared him to all, and was invaluable at the Front. In a previous raid one of his men, a Private, was gassed in the German trench, and Captain Pillman carried him on his back over 300 yards of "No Mans Land" to the British trenches.

The Company Quartermaster-Sergeant wrote:-

"Captain Pillman was a fine Officer and a very gallant gentleman, and will not be easily replaced."

This page was last updated on 02-Jun-2022.