The grave of Lt Ronald Poulton-Palmer 1/4th Royal Berks at Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) cemetery of the Great War
Ronald William Poulton (later sometimes Poulton Palmer) was an English rugby union footballer, who captained England and was killed on 5 May 1915 in The First World War. Poulton played for Balliol College, Oxford University RFC, Harlequins and Liverpool [Note 1] Poulton is one of three men to score a hat-trick of tries in the Varsity match – he scored five, still the individual record for the fixture, in 1909. He captained England during the 1913/4 unbeaten season (now what would be called a 'Grand Slam'), scoring four tries against France in 1914, in the last test match prior to the outbreak of World War I. He officially changed his surname to Palmer by Royal Licence as a condition of inheriting a fortune from his uncle George William Palmer of Huntley and Palmer biscuit company in 1914. His surname was never actually 'Poulton Palmer' (or even the hyphenated version 'Poulton-Palmer), although he was often later called this. Poulton was commissioned into 1st/4th territorial battalion of The Royal Berkshire Regiment and rose to the rank of Lieutenant. On the morning of 5 May 1915, whilst supervising trench work from the top of a superior officer's newly repaired dugout, Poulton Palmer was killed by a sniper's bullet – to a man his platoon wept at their and the nation's loss. He was twenty-five years of age.
Size: 3759px × 5262px
Location: Hyde Park Corner, Ploegstreet, Belgum
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1, 1/4th, balliol, berks, biscuit, boys, cemetery, corner, grave, great, hyde, international, lt, park, poppy, poulton-palmer, remembrance, ronald, royal, rugby, rugger, sacrifice, war, world, wreath
