Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

Bernard Pitt (19 June 1882 – 30 April 1916) was a British teacher, army officer and poet. He attended

Borough Road College Borough Road is in Southwark, London SE1. It runs east–west between St George's Circus and Borough High Street. History and location The route was created as part of the planning and road improvements associated with the completion of We ...

from 1901 to 1903 to train as a teacher and remained at the institution to study for degrees in languages and literature. Pitt taught at the King's School in Kew,

Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School ("Beneath the shadow of thy wings") , established= , closed= , type=Grammar School;Academy (English school), Academy , religious_affiliation= , president= , head_label= , head=Eliot Hodges , r_head_label= , r_head= , chair_label=, chair= , founder ...

Rochester, Kent Rochester ( ) is a town in the unitary authority of Medway, in Kent, England. It is at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway, about from London. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rainham, Strood and Gillin ...

, and Coopers' Company School in

Bow, London Bow () is an area of East London within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is primarily a built-up and mostly residential area and is east of Charing Cross. It was in the traditional county of Middlesex but became part of the County of ...

. From 1912 he taught a degree-level course in English literature at the Working Men's College in St Pancras. Pitt began a study of

Anglo-Saxon literature Old English literature refers to poetry and prose written in Old English in early medieval England, from the 7th century to the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066, a period often termed Anglo-Saxon England. The 7th-century work ''Cædmon ...

in 1914 but left this to join the British Army and fight in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Pitt served briefly with the

Volunteer Training Corps The Volunteer Training Corps was a voluntary home defence reserve force in the United Kingdom during World War I. Early development After war had been declared in August 1914, there was a popular demand for a means of service for those men who wer ...

before being commissioned into the

Border Regiment The Border Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot. After service ...

. He served with them in France before being detached to the 47th Trench Mortar Battery. He was killed in action while directing the fire of his battery near Arras. After his death, a collection of his letters and poetry written on the Western Front was published and a colleague completed and published the work on Anglo-Saxon literature.

Early life and career

Pitt was born on 19 June 1882 to Abraham Robert Pitt and his wife, Annie. He studied at

, a teaching college on Borough Road, Southwark, between 1901 and 1903. The college's records state that Pitt's attitude to study was "not very satisfactory", though he graduated with a class 1 teachers certificate and excelled in chemistry, physiology and agriculture. Pitt afterwards remained at the college and received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in languages and, in 1911, a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in literature, both accredited by the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. Pitt married Florence Mary and had four children. Pitt became a master (teacher) at the King's School in Kew,

and Coopers' Company School in

. From 1912 he additionally taught English literature at the Working Men's College in

St Pancras, London St Pancras () is a district in north London. It was originally a medieval ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the area it covered now forms around ...

. His classes at the college were honours degree-level courses of three years' duration. Pitt's students' essays were compared favourably by Arthur Smith of

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

to the work done at the University of Oxford. In the winter of 1914/15, Pitt worked with Alfred J. Wyatt on a review of

. Before the conclusion of the work, Pitt decided to join the British Army, noting at the time that "all is naught compared with the war". The Anglo-Saxon study was completed by Wyatt and published as ''An Anglo-Saxon Reader'' in 1919.

First World War

Pitt initially joined the

but later joined the main British Army. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the

on 1 April 1915. He served with the regiment's 10th (Reserve) Battalion, part of

Kitchener's Army The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, as Kitchener's Mob, was an (initially) all-volunteer portion of the British Army formed in the United Kingdom from 1914 onwards following the outbreak of hostilities in the Fi ...

. Pitt was deployed to France in December 1915, serving initially near

Béthune Béthune ( ; archaic and ''Bethwyn'' historically in English) is a city in northern France, sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department. Geography Béthune is located in the former province of Artois. It is situated south-east of Calais, ...

. He described seeing heavy fighting and being recommended for the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

but was granted the lower honour of a

mention in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

instead. Pitt was attached to the 47th Trench Mortar Battery from February 1916. Pitt was killed in action on 30 April 1916 near

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

. He had been observing the fall of shells from his battery and correcting their fire when a German

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

exploded under his position. Unusually for a time when next of kin were given sanitised versions of their loved ones' deaths, Pitt's widow, who was living in

Hounslow Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in Gr ...

, was told that his body was destroyed by the explosion and no trace of him could be found. Pitt's brigadier-general described him as the "embodiment of dash and pluck... whenever the Germans appeared to be getting particularly annoyed, the men would say 'oh, it's that little trench mortar officer at them with his guns'". At the time of Pitt's death, he was about to be appointed as a

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

. His formal transfer to the

General List The General Service Corps (GSC) is a corps of the British Army. Role The role of the corps is to provide specialists, who are usually on the Special List or General List. These lists were used in both World Wars for specialists and those not allo ...

for service with the trench mortar battery came on 30 May 1916. He is named on the

Arras Memorial The Arras Memorial is a World War I memorial in France, located in the Faubourg d'Amiens British Cemetery, in the western part of the town of Arras. The memorial commemorates 35,942 soldiers of the forces of the United Kingdom, South Africa and ...

and the Working Men's College named a room after him. Pitt was a prolific letter writer and poet during his time on the front; these were collected and published after his death. His letters have been described as varying between being as idealistic as

Rupert Brooke Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915)The date of Brooke's death and burial under the Julian calendar that applied in Greece at the time was 10 April. The Julian calendar was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. was an En ...

and as resentful of the war as

Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both describ ...

. Two days before his death, Pitt had enjoyed a 24-hour rest period and wrote home while sitting under a walnut tree near a ruined village, noting the beauty of the blossoming fruit trees, flowers and wildlife.

Works

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitt, Bernard 1882 births 1916 deaths Border Regiment officers British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I English World War I poets