Extracted from The Bickersteth Diaries 1914-1918:
The Royals left Potchefstroom in South Africa and sailed to England, landing at Southampton on 19 September 1914. From there, the regiment was dispatched to Luggershall to join the newly-formed 6th Cavalry Brigade of 3rd Cavalry Division. After completing their training, the Royals were then despatched to Belgium, arriving at Ostend and Zeebrugge on 7 October 1914. The 1st Royal Dragoons were in action almost continuously around Ypres, mostly in a dismounted role. The Royals were constantly engaged during the First Battle in October-November 1914, participating in a number of actions as a mobile reserve, with "A" Squadron defending Hollebeke Chateau. The Royals again served in the vicinity during the early part of 1915, where they carried out trench-holding duties close to Zillebeke. The regiment also fought with distinction during the Second Battle of Ypres, suffering heavy casualties at Railway Wood on 13 May 1915, and also participated in trench fighting around Hooge Chateau and Sanctuary Wood in late May and early June. The Royals played a valuable role during the Battle of Loos, where the regiment advanced dismounted into the town to shore up the defences and rally troops of 15th (Scottish) Division. William Futcher was present with the regiment during this period and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.

In December 1915, he obtained leave so that he could marry.

In January 1916, the Royals were again called upon to act as infantry. A Dismounted Cavalry Division was formed from the three Cavalry Divisions that formed the Cavalry Corps. Each Cavalry Brigade was ordered to form a composite dismounted battalion, with each regiment of the formation contributing a company. The Royal Dragoons provided a company as part 6th Cavalry Brigade Dismounted Battalion. The unit was tasked with garrisoning a section of the front line close to the Hohenzollern Redoubt. On the morning of 12 January 1916, Sergeant Futcher was having breakfast when a shell landed in the trench he was in and killed him almost instantaneously. As well as Futcher, Captain Waterhouse and another soldier were in the trench at the same time. Second-Lieutenant Burdon Bickersteth, Futcher's troop leader, recalled that the sentry had been blown to pieces, while Waterhouse had received severe head wounds. As for William Futcher, he had reached him just at the moment he died. Bickersteth paid tribute to his Troop Sergeant in a letter:
"By common consent he was the most promising young Sergeant in the regiment and was marked out to become a Squadron-Sergeant-Major. He was just my age, and a month ago I got him leave to go home and get married. I have written to his young wife. At the moment he was killed he had a mug of tea in his hand and a piece of bread and bacon."

J. Bickersteth (ed.), The Bickersteth Diaries 1914-1918, London, Leo Cooper,

1995 p.57


Apparently, Bickersteth also mentioned Sergeant Sidney Futcher in his "History of the 6th Cavalry Brigade 1914-1918" that was published in the 1920's.
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Debt of Honour Register
In Memory of
Serjeant WILLIAM FUTCHER

1635, 1st (Royal) Dragoons
who died age 27
on 12 January 1916
Serjeant FUTCHER, Son of Mr. and Mrs. F. Futcher, of North Wanborough, Odiham, Hants; husband of Lydia Maria Wright (formerly Futcher), of 13, Wayden St., Reading.

Remembered with honour
LOOS MEMORIAL

Additional Information: Son of Mr. and Mrs. F. Futcher, of North Wanborough, Odiham, Hants; husband of Lydia Maria Wright (formerly Futcher), of 13, Wayden St., Reading.
Cemetery: LOOS MEMORIALPas de Calais, France
Grave or Reference Panel Number: Panel 1
Location: Loos-en-Gohelle is a village about 5 kilometres north-west of Lens. The Loos Memorial forms the side and back of Dud Corner Cemetery where over 1,700 officers and men are buried, the great majority of whom fell in the Battle of Loos. Dud Corner Cemetery, which stands almost on the site of a German strong point, the Lens Road Redoubt, captured by the 15th (Scottish) Division on the first day of the battle, is located about 1 kilometre west of the village, on the N43, the main Lens to Bethune road. The Loos Memorial commemorates over 20,000 officers and men who fell in the area from the River Lys to the old southern boundary of the First Army, east and west of Grenay, and who have no known grave. It covers the period from the first day of the Battle of Loos to the date of the Armistice. On either side of the cemetery is a wall 15 feet high, to which are fixed tablets on which are carved the names of those commemorated. At the back are four small circular courts, open to the sky, in which the lines of tablets are continued, and between these courts are three semicircular walls or apses, two of which carry tablets, while on the centre apse is erected the Cross of Sacrifice.
Visiting Information: The Panel Numbers quoted at the end of each entry relate to the panels dedicated to the Regiment served with. In some instances where a casualty is recorded as attached to another Regiment, his name may alternatively appear within their Regimental Panels. Please refer to the on-site Memorial Register Introduction to determine the alternative panel numbers if you do not find the name within the quoted Panels.