SunderlandSoldiers

Name: Leigh Rouse
Birth Place: Derby
Residence: London, W.
Death Date: 7 Oct 1916
Death Location: France & Flanders
Cemetery: Thiepval Memorial
Enlistment Location: Whitehall
Next of Kin: Son of Richmond L. and Eliza Roose.
Rank: L/Corporal
Regiment: Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)
Battalion: 9th Battalion
Number: PS/10898
Type of Casualty: Killed in action
Theatre of War: Western European Theatre
Medals & Awards: Military Medal
Other Info: Former football player and Wales International.

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Private Leigh Roose, who had never visited the trenches before, was in the sap when the flammenwerfer attack began. He managed to get back along the trench and, though nearly choked with fumes with his clothes burnt, refused to go to the dressing station. He continued to throw bombs until his arm gave out, and then, joining the covering party, used his rifle with great effect.
On the outbreak of the First World War Roose immediately joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. His father, Richmond Roose was a pacifist who was strongly opposed to his son becoming involved in the conflict. Roose was sent to France and worked at a hospital in Rouen. His job was to treat injured soldiers from the Western Front before arranging their transport back to Britain.

In April 1915 Leigh Roose was transferred to the Evacuation Hospital at Gallipoli. After spending several months treating the wounded, Roose returned to London. Roose now joined the 9th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers as a private. In 1916 he was sent to Western Front and had his first experience of trench warfare close to the village of Dainville. In August he won the Military Medal for bravery while fighting at the Battle of the Somme. The citation explained how he threw "bombs until his arms gave out, and then, joining the covering party, used his rifle with great effect".

While serving on the front-line Roose suffered from trench foot, a fungal infection brought on by prolonged exposure to damp, cold and unhygienic conditions.

Leigh Roose was killed on 7th October 1916 during an attack on the German trenches at Gueudecourt. Gordon Hoare, who before the war had represented England as an amateur footballer, saw Roose running towards the enemy at full speed in No Man's Land, while firing his gun. Soon afterwards, another soldier saw Roose lying in a bomb crater. His body was never recovered.

Within a few months of his own death, three of his former team-mates, Albert Milton (Sunderland), Wilf Toman (Everton) and Peter Johnstone (Celtic), were killed on the Western Front.