Three of the sons of Leopold de Rothschild (1845-1917) were officers in the Bucks Yeomanry. Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1882-1942), the eldest, reluctantly remained at New Court where he was of great value to his country managing the business and organising the recruitment and provison of assistance to the troops.
Leopold's youngest son, Anthony Gustav (1887-1961) served with distinction, was wounded at Gallipoli and ended the war as a major with the General Staff. His second son, Evelyn Achille (1886-1917) paid the ultimate sacrifice. He saw early action on the Western Front and was invalided back home. Within months, he was back in the trenches, and was mentioned in despatches. Tragically, in November 1917 Evelyn died from wounds sustained in a cavalry charge at El Mughar. His mother Marie (1862-1937), was devastated.
To the memory of the fallen of N M Rothschild & Sons
With a heavy heart, N M Rothschild and Sons wished to record the sacrifice made by members of the staff of New Court and the Royal Mint Refinery who fell in the 'war to end all wars'. The names on the roll of honour for 1914-1918 would later be joined by the names of those killed in the Second World War.
The first New Court war memorial was made of wood. When New Court was rebuilt in the early 1960s, a new war memorial was commissioned, with a simple but elegant design of gold lettering carved into white marble. The two war memorials are preserved in the Archive.
TO THE MEMORY OF
ALLAN A. BARTRUM.
LEOPOLD A.L. FLOWER
CHARLES W. GOODWIN.
ALFRED C. HAYHOE.
ARCHIE HOLLAND.
ALMIRE F. LECHEVALLIER.
FREDERICK H. LOVELL.
ALEXANDER McLAREN.
ALFRED F. MAFFRET.
WILFRED S.B. PARRY.
EVELYN A. de ROTHSCHILD.
J.P. ARMAND SEIGNEUR.
HORACE SMITH.
SYDNEY G. SPENCER.
W. NORMAN TOWSE.
COLIN W. WISE.
AUGUSTUS WOODALL.
OF NEW COURT AND
OF THE ROYAL MINT
REFINERY WHO FELL
IN THE WAR OF 1914-19
THEIR NAME LIVETH
FOR EVERMORE
1939 TO 1945
RONALD J. HART.
PETER H. SMITHERS.
PETER G. WILSON.
