British Army Veterinary Corps
Roy Herbert Charles LUCAS
Lieutenant
Died 25 December 1915 · Aged 25
His story
According to the 1911 UK Census, Roy Herbert Charles Lucas MRCVS was born in 1890 in Klerksdorp Transvaal, South Africa.
He graduated from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (London) on 22 December 1914.
Lieutenant Lucas arrived in France on 27 January 1915 and was attached to the 20th Brigade of the Royal Field Artillery when he was gassed by a coal gas heater in his room while sleeping in his billet on 25 December 1915.
A Court of Inquiry into his death shows that Lieutenant Lucas dined with officers from the 67th Battery of the Royal Field Artillery and was persuaded to spend the night in a spare room in the billet. He was found dead the next morning.
After several inquiries into his death, it was finally determined in June 1916 that his death was an accident. The initial Court of Inquiry in January 1916 had determined that Lieutenant Lucas took his own life by his actions; whether caused by intent or accident, there is no evidence to prove either.
He is buried in the Pont-Remy British Cemetery.
Lucas’s obituary notice appears in The Veterinary Record dated 8 January 1916.
Before the war
- Nationality
- British
- Date of Birth
- 1890
- Place of Birth
- Klerksdorp, Transvaal, South Africa
- Veterinary College and Date of Graduation
- London - December 1914
Military service
- Last Rank
- Lieutenant
- Regiment/Service
- British Army Veterinary Corps
- Secondary Regiment
- Royal Field Artillery
- Secondary Unit
- 20th Brigade
- First Theatre of War
- France 27 January 1915
Medals and commemoration
- Name on RCVS Honour Board
- Yes
- Name In Officers who died in Great War
- Yes
- Medals and Awards
- 1914/15 Star; British War Medal 1914-1918; Victory Medal
Death and burial
- Date of Death
- 25 December 1915
- Age at Death
- 25
- Place of Death
- Abbeville, France
- Cause of Death
- Asphyxia caused by coal gas
- Cemetery
- Pont-Remy British Cemetery
- Location
- Pont-Remy, France
- Grave Reference
- III.A.2
- Commonwealth War Grave
- Yes - CWGC Headstone
- Emblem or Badge on Headstone
- British Army Veterinary Corps
Sources and further reading
- CWGC casualty and commemoration record
- Find a Grave memorial
- The Veterinary Record, 8 January 1916 — cited in the earlier biography
Cite this biography
Graham Hodgkins and Pete Matthews, “Roy Herbert Charles Lucas”, Veterinary Virtual War Memorial, https://vetsremembered.org/people/roy_herbert_charles_lucas/.
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