Lieutenant Colonel, Royal Field Artillery
Born: March 17th 1875
Died: July 8th 1917
Age at Death: 42
Killed in action, France, July 8th 1917.
Grave reference II.D.28 Dickiebusch New Cemetery Extension, West Vlaanderen, Belgium.
Brighton College Register: Son of Rev. T. Hayes Belcher, Head Master of Brighton College 1881-1983.
Brother to Gordon Belcher (Ju./Sc. 1894-1904), Raymond D. Belcher (Ju./Sc. 1892-1900)*, and Arthur Hayes Belcher (Ju./Sc. 1886-1895)and paternal first cousin to Basil Belcher (Ju./Ch. 1905-1911).
A donation to the memorial statue has been made in honour of this soldier by John, Miriam, Eleni and Constantine Papanichola:
"We do remember you."
Obituary Brightonian XV July, 1917
H.T. Belcher, the eldest son of Rev. T. Hayes Belcher, Vicar of Bramley, Basingstoke, was educated at Brighton College and Woolwich. He served in the South African War, in which he went through the siege of Ladysmith, was mentioned in dispatches, and gained the D.S.O. and the Queen's Medal with six clasps. From 1910 to 1914 he commanded a company of gentlemen cadets at the Royal Military Academy. He went to France in September, 1914, and with the exception of a short time when he was home wounded, had served continuously since then. he was killed on July 8th. He was mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Russian Order of St. Anne with Sword. He married, last January, Ghita, daughter of the late Charles Maynard Colchester, of Ipswich, and widow of Major J.H. Slade-Powell, R.F.A. His youngest brother, Captain Gordon Belcher, M.C., Royal Berks Regiment, was killed in May, 1915; and another brother, Major R.D. Belcher*, M.C., R.F.A. is still serving on the front.
Obituary Brightonian XV December, 1917
We reprint the following from the R.M.A. Magazine:- "Lieutenant-Colonel H.T. Belcher, D.S.O., R.F.A., who was killed in action on July 8th, 1917, was a Company Commander and an Instructor in Artillery at the R.M.A. for some years just prior to the War. He was a professional solider of the best type, thorough keen sportsman and good at games, he allowed nothing to interfere with his work. He devoted much thought to field artillery gunnery, and held original views, the soundness of which has been proved by the events of the war. The ranging machine, most of which he built with his own hands, was his most valuable contribution to the 'Shop' and the Regiment. It was far in advance of anything of the same nature previously designed, and has been widely copied. He was a man of strong character, and though silent and reserved, was very popular with the Cadets, more especially those of his own Company. He won his D.S.O. with Neddy Wing's famous battery in Ladysmith. In the present war he served continuously from the Battle of the Aisne to the date of his death, being mentioned several times in despatches, and being awarded the Russian Order of St. Anne with Sword. He was one of those of whom Spenser wrote:
'Abroad in arms at home in peaceful kind,
Who seeks by constant toil shall soonest honour find.' "