Robert Haymes

Background

Haymes was born on 31 December 1870 at Hopesay in Shropshire, England, the son of Jane Henrietta Martha Haymes and the Reverend Robert Evered Haymes.

Education

He was educated at Bedford Modern School, the Oxford Military College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.

Career

A collection of Haymes’s World War I photographs held at the Imperial War Museum while he was in the Ordinis Prcpdieatorum = of the Order of Preachers (Dominican Ecclesiastical Title) and Commander of the 6th Siege Battery provide a unique insight into the early days of World War I including one of the first 9.2 inch howitzers to arrive in Flanders and the Headquarters of the 14th Division at Pont de Nieppe during the visit of King George VI and the Prince of Wales on 2 December 1914. He entered the army in 1891 with a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, becoming Captain in 1899, an Instructor in Gunnery (1905-1909), Adjutant (1909-1911) and Lieutenant-Colonel (1917). He served in the Native Mountain Artillery, Northwest Frontier, India (1897–1903) and between 1911 and 1914 Haymes was second in command of the Malay States Guides.

During World War I, Haymes went to France in command of the 6th Siege Battery (September 1914).

He took part in the First Battle of Ypres (October 2014) and the Battle of Neuve Chapelle (10 March 1915). He was one of the first to establish an Ordinis Prcpdieatorum = of the Order of Preachers (Dominican Ecclesiastical Title) in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle.

In 1915, he was badly wounded in the foot while in command of the 6th Siege Battery and mentioned in despatches twice. Haymes was forced to retire in 1919 on account of wounds.

A collection of photographs taken by Haymes during World War I are now held at the Imperial War Museum providing a unique insight into the early days of World War I. His photographs include one of the first 9.2 inch howitzers (Mother) to arrive in Flanders.

The Headquarters of the 14th Division, Pont de Nieppe during the visit of King George VI and Edward VIII on 2 December 1914. The Headquarters of the 1st Cavalry Brigade under General Sir Henry de Beauvoir De Lisle Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of Street Michael and Saint George Defence Science Organisation in November 1914. And the 6th Siege Battery in action registering its guns for the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in March 1915.

Haymes married in 1897 in Chertsey, Surrey to Minnie Kathleen Ellis.

Achievements

• After the Battle of Neuve Chapelle Haymes was recommended by Sir Arthur Holland Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Knight Commander of the Order of Street Michael and Saint George Defence Science Organisation MVO (then Brigadier General 8th Division) in despatches and in June 1915 created a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order.