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The
Chappell Family
The father of Hereward Chappell, George Chappell,
was born on the 16th October 1861. He was educated at St.
Luke's College, Exeter. Between 1885-1889 he served as curate
of St. Katherine's church, Northampton, and thereafter in
the same capacity at St. Andrew's church, Northampton. However,
in 1896 he became vicar of Thurmaston, Leicestershire.
On the 8th June 1897 George
Chappell married Emma Marion Ellison at Gaddon Leaze, Uffculme,
Devon. She was the only daughter of the Reverend John Ellison,
M.A., vicar of Pattishall, Northamptonshire. The couple
moved into Thurmaston vicarage. Their first child Hereward
Chappell was born on the 21st April 1898 and baptised by
his father at St. Michael and All Angel's church, Thurmaston,
on the 5th June that same year. The Reverend Chappell and
his wife had six more children, two of them twins, one of
whom died in infancy.
Hereward
Chappell
Young Hereward Chappell
received an education at Wyggeston School, Leicester. Thereafter,
he was a cadet at Wellington College, India. During the
Great War, in 1916, Second Lieutenant Hereward Chappell
was enrolled as a cadet in the Saugor Military Academy in
India.
As Lieutenant Hereward Chappell
he served with the 39th Garhwal Rifles during the Great
War, both in Iraq and with the Army of the Black Sea. After
the Great War's end he saw further service with the Garhwal
Rifles in the Waritzan campaigns of 1919-1921 and 1921-1924.
In 1926 he married Aileen Beatrice Henville, the second
daughter of Colonel George Henville Davis, Royal Indian
Army Service Corps (RIASC), of Oak Lodge, Ditchling, Sussex.
Thereafter, Hereward Chappell
served on the North West Frontier of India between 1930-1931.
In 1931 he left the Rifles to join the Burma Military Police
(BMP). Commanding the North Shan States Battalion of the
BMP, he served during the Burma Rebellion which ended in
1932. He later served with the Burma Frontier Force (BFF)
during 1936-1937.
During the Second World
War, up until the withdrawal of forces from Burma, the result
of invasion by the Japanese, he served with the 2nd Rangoon
Battalion, BMP. In 1943 he joined the newly formed 2nd Battalion
Burma Regiment. Serving with the 2nd Battalion he rose to
the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and on the 12th June 1947,
when then commanding the battalion, he became an Officer
of the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of
the British Empire (OBE).
He retired from the army
in 1948 and eventually went to live at Ditchling, Sussex.
He and his wife had a family. Hereward Chappell died on
the 28th December 1970, he is interred in St. Margaret's
churchyard, Ditchling.
Hereward Chappell's brother,
Eric Ellison Chappell, who was born at Thurmaston on the
14th November 1900, also served in the army. In 1920-1921
he also took part in the Waritzan campaign in India, whilst
serving with the 1/3rd Madras Infantry. A younger brother,
Amyas George Chappell, who was born at Thurmaston in around
1904, became a clerk in holy orders. During the Second World
War, on the 30th January 1945, the London Gazette
recorded that he had gained a commission in the Royal Air
Force. The Reverend Amyas George Chappell, M.A., service
number 188536, gained his commission with the Chaplain's
Branch of the R.A.F. on the 1st January 1945, with the relative
rank of Squadron Leader.
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