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Lionel Perceval Graves
Second Lieutenant, 9th King’s Own Scottish Borderers
Died of illness, 21 December 1918, aged 34
Buried at St. Tudno’s Churchyard, Great Orme
CWGC registered (no family details)
To read much more about Lionel Graves and the Graves’ family, click here.
Lionel Graves is not commemorated on any of the Llandudno memorials but he died in the town and was buried at St. Tudno’s Churchyard.
Lionel Graves was born at 75 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin on 15 April 1884. He was the son of Arnold Felix Graves, a barrister and civil servant, and his wife Constance Louise Graves (née Wetherley). The family lived at various addresses around Dublin until 1893 when the marriage disintegrated. Lionel and his brother Arnold were dispatched to boarding school, King William’s College on the Isle of Man in 1894. The Census of 1901 records Lionel a boarder at the college though Arnold had left in 1898. Lionel left the college later in 1901 and studied initially at Owens College, Manchester then in London and he was made a graduate in the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1903. He entered the motor trade and later (1909) received a commission in the Territorial Force Royal Engineers Kent (Fortress). He resigned his commission in 1911 and emigrated to British Colombia.
In August 1914, Lionel Graves volunteered to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was enlisted into the new 16th Battalion, later known as the Canadian Scottish. His service number was 29614. The battalion formed at Valcartier, Québec and landed at Devonport on 17 October 1914, moving to Westdown Camp on Salisbury Plain and then to Lark Hill Camp on 27 November 1914. On 3 February 1915, Lionel Graves received a commission in the King’s Own Scottish Borderers and joined the 9th (Service) Battalion. Instead of being sent overseas, the 9th KSOB converted to a Reserve Battalion (April 1915), its troops being used to reinforce other battalions that had suffered severe losses. The 9th KSOB moved to Stobs Camp in the Scottish Borders to fulfil its training role. Lionel Graves joined the 6th (Service) Battalion KSOB on 4 October 1915 in Belgium. His war was short for he left the battalion on 12 November suffering from haemoptysis. He was evacuated to England on 19 November diagnosed as having tuberculosis.
Now nominally with the 9th KSOB, the reserve battalion, Lionel Graves was treated at several hospitals and sanatoria but in spite of initial optimism, his health continued to deteriorate and he was forced to resign his commission on 17 March 1916. He was awarded a Silver War Badge on 19 December 1916 and granted the honorary rank of second lieutenant the following year. Lionel Graves died aged 34 on 21 December 1918 at “Camelot”, St. David’s Place, Llandudno. Why he was resident at Llandudno remains uncertain. His brother Arnold, now a major in the Royal Air Force and just returned from Mesopotamia, was present at Lionel’s death. He was buried at St. Tudno’s Churchyard on 26 December 1918.
Known memorials:
- Canadian Book of Remembrance
- Ireland’s Memorial Records 1914-1918
- Kent Fortress Royal Engineers Roll of Honour
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