Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Derrick le Poer Trench (25 May 1882 – 27 August 1917) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and recipient of 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 ...

. Trench was born in 1882, the son of Colonel Stewart Trench. He was educated at

Bloxham School Bloxham School, also called All Saints' School, is an Independent school (UK), independent co-educational day and boarding school of the public school (UK), British public school tradition, located in the village of Bloxham, three miles (5 ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

and the

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers of the Royal Corps of Sig ...

. Trench was commissioned into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1900, being promoted to captain in 1912. He served with the Guards Division Artillery during 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 ...

and was promoted to major in 1915. He was awarded the Military Cross the same year. Trench was mentioned in dispatches four times during the war, on 22 June 1915, 1 January and 15 June 1916, and 11 December 1917. He was made a Companion of the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

in 1917. He was killed, alongside Brigadier-General Malcolm Peake, by a German shell on 27 August 1917.Bloxham School Roll of Honour http://bloxhamschoolwardead.co.uk/id1.html

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trench, Derrick 1882 births 1917 deaths Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of World War I Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Recipients of the Military Cross People educated at Bloxham School Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich British military personnel killed in World War I