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Rank : 2nd Lieutenant

Army Number : 18239 (Canadian Army)

Unit : 5th Bn

Biography :

Educated at Uppingham School, Rutland, Christopher Selwyn worked for 5 years in Derby and then from 1912 for two years in Canada, in Montreal with the Canadian Pacific Railway and in Alberta as a lay missionary. In August 1914 he enlisted in the Canadian Infantry and in the rank of LCpl (18239) in 1st Canadian Contingent he arrived in England in the autumn. In December 1914 he was granted a commission in 1/5th Bn The Leicestershire Regiment, with which in B Coy he sailed to France in February 1915. While on patrol on the slopes of Mount Kemmel near Zillebeke, he was shot through both thighs, and died of wounds a few days later on 17.5.1915, aged 26. He is buried at Bailleul Communal Cemetery, Nord, France.
Newspaper cutting from the Derby Mercury 28.5.1915

CWGC:

SELWYN, CHRISTOPHER WAKEFIELD
Rank: Second Lieutenant
Date of Death: 17/05/1915
Age: 26
Regiment/Service: Leicestershire Regiment 5th Bn.
Grave Reference: I. 3.
Cemetery: BAILLEUL COMMUNAL CEMETERY, NORD
Additional Information: Son of the Rev. E. C. Selwyn, DD, for 20 years Headmaster of Uppingham School, and of Lucy Ada Selwyn, grand-daughter of Dr. Arnold, of Rugby.

The book "THE FIFTH LEICESTERSHIRE. - A record of the 1/5th Battalion The Leicestershire Regimen TF during the War 1914-1919" by Captain J.D. Hills MC, Croix de Guerre" in its Chapter II - EARLY EXPERIENCES states, '2nd Lieut. C.W. Selwyn, taking out a patrol in front of "F5," was shot through both thighs, and, though wonderfully cheerful when carried in, died a few days later at Bailleul.'

Date of Birth : 9.8.1889

Place of Birth : Ambleside, Westmorland

Date of Death : 17.5.1915

Place of Death : Baileul, France

Civil Occupation : Midland Railway, Derby; Canadian Pacific Railway

Period of Service : 1914-15

Conflicts : WW1

Places Served : France