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Name: WOOSNAM, Richard Bowen (Capt.)

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Nee: son of Bowen Pottinger and Kate Woosnam, of Brecknock

Birth Date: 5 Jan 1881 Kensington, London

Death Date: 4 June 1915 Gallipoli, Dardanelles, on active service. But see below

First Date: 1907

Last Date: 1915

Profession: Head of Game Dept. 1910

Area: Nairobi

Book Reference: HBEA, Cranworth, Rediscovered, Percival, White Man, Red 25, Hut, Monty Brown, Gazette, CWGC, Medals, Barnes, Leader14, Colonial, Chandler, Red Book 1912, Fox Davies

War Service: Worcs. Regiment

School: Wellington College

General Information:

White Man - WW1 - Intelligence Dept. was formed. Capt. R.B. Woosnam, the chief game ranger, was placed in charge and Delamere was appointed O.C. Intelligence on the Masai border.
Monty Brown - letter 29/10/01 - Richard Woosnam, who almost nothing is known about, but was the Game Warden from 1910 to 1915. A most extraordinary fact has arisen about him which I am hotly pursuing. The Worcestershire Regiment claim he was killed in Gallipoli on 4 June 1915 with them; the Green Howards claim he was killed while serving with them on exactly the same date at Ypres! The War Graves commission say his name is carved on the Menin Gate at Ypres; the family plaque in his family church in Wales say it happened at Gallipoli.
Gazette - 11/8/15 - Obituary - R.B. Woosnam, killed in action in the Dardanelles on 4/6/15 while serving as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Worcestershire Regiment. The deceased gentleman rendered the Protectorate most capable and efficient service as Game Warden and His Excellency wishes to place on record his personal sense of loss at the death of a valued brother officer and esteemed friend.
Gazette - 26/8/1914 - Appt. - R.B. Woosnam, to be employed in the Intelligence Department with the rank of Lieutenant, to date August 5th 1914
Gazette - 23/9/1914 - Appt. - Intelligence Officer - Captain R.B. Woosnam, Reserve of Officers (late Worcestershire Regiment), to date September 3rd 1914
Medals - East African Intelligence Department - Worcestershire Regt., Lieutenant
Barnes - Muthaiga Club War Memorial - 4 Jun 1915 aged 34, Lieut. Worcestershire Regt., Helles Memorial Turkey Addenda Panel
Monty Brown - On 17 November 1880, Kate Woosnam gave birth to her only son Richard Bowen Woosnam. He was the third of her 4 children; the others all being girls. There was confusion as to the place of his birth. His birth certificate is clear in its declaration that he was born at 41 Warwick Gardens in Kensington, London. According to this document his father, Bowen Pottinger Woosnam, was at the time a Barrister-at-Law, and gave the above as his home address.
Another source - the obituary in the "Ibis" - states emphatically that young Richard had been born at Tyn-y-Graig, Builth, Brecknockshire. One can only conclude that the officially signed birth certificate gave the true location. ………… on 4 December 1899, barely 2 months after war was declared, he was embodied into the militia. Three months later, on 6 March 1900, he was commissioned into the 3rd Bn. Welsh Regiment as a 2nd Lt., and on his way to South Africa. For 2 years he served in that war-torn country, being appointed to the 2nd Bn. Of the Worcestershire Regiment on 27 July 1901. …………… On 2 October 1903 he resigned from the Army, to follow a new path in his life. ……………… [more on his natural history trips to S. Africa in 1904 and to British East Africa in 1905 for the British Museum] ……… [1910 - dilemma of whether to work for the British Museum or as Game Warden in BEA] ……… Woosnam arrived in East Africa towards the end of 1910. He plunged himself wholeheartedly into his new task as head of the country's Game Department, exhibiting enthusiasm and a mature wisdom in his responsible position. Just on 30 years old he displayed the assurance and ability of an older and more experienced man, and was soon earning commendations of a high order for his achievements.
His obituary in "Ibis" gave these well-earned words: 'As game warden in British East Africa he was a great success, and brought his department into a high state of efficiency. He did his duty without fear or favour, but was nevertheless one of the most popular and highly esteemed men in the Protectorate. He has been justly described by one of his colleagues as 'the whitest man he ever met'.
Up to that stage in its short history British East Africa had experienced a succession of game wardens, and all had struggled to establish a modicum of discipline and system in the embryonic department. It was Woosnam who finally pieced everything together, and before he left in 1915 he could well claim to have constructed a sound base for future officers of the department.
His name is almost unknown today, but it deserves recognition as one of the ablest men ever to lead East Africa's Game Department. …………… [WW1 and after service in the Intelligence Dept. in EA he returned to his regiment in UK in 1915] …………. [killed at the third battle of Krithia in Gallipoli on 4 June 1915]
Leader14 - Warden, Game Dept.
Colonial 1912 - Game Dept. - Game Ranger
Red Book 1912 - R.B. Woosnam - Nairobi
Rediscovered - 1913 - The other evening Wuznam [sic] the game ranger, was riding along near Nairobi on a motorcycle and was for some distance pursued by a lion!
Red 25 - Game Ranger 1910-15
Visited Ruwenzori mountains 1907

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