As a researcher of military history, one of my greatest sources of satisfaction is the acceptance by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission of a correction to a record of commemoration. Mostly as a consequence of the digitisation process, such errors are legion. Additionally some casualties were missed for various reasons. My first success was the inclusion of one of Blacker’s Boys, the 9^th Royal Irish Fusiliers, on the Addenda Panel at Thiepval; he was killed on 1 July 1916 but his death had not been recorded. For some years I have been examining the CWGC commemorations from the First World War in the United States and recently I have been working on a project to ensure the correct commemoration for all Royal Signals casualties. My latest success, however, was for an infantry officer killed in action in Waziristan whose date of death and regiment were recorded incorrectly; he was killed in a fight that earned another officer a posthumous Victoria Cross.

Lieutenant Luigi Maria Parisotti was born on 25 July 1891 in Paddington, London, the son of an Italian father and an English mother; he was the fourth of five children.^[1] He was educated at Stonyhurst College; Collège Saint Pierre, Calais; and the Sorbonne.^[2] At some time he began to use the name ‘Louis’.

Parisotti was commissioned into Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment) on 2 September 1915. After a period with the 3^rd (Reserve) Battalion at West Hartlepool, he joined the 2^nd Battalion of the Green Howards near Carnoy in France as a platoon commander in ‘D’ Company in February 1916. The battalion was part of 21^st Brigade in 30^th Division, which had transferred from 7^th Division the previous December and on doing so lost two of its regular battalions to other brigades in 30^th Division, receiving two ‘Pals’ battalion in their place—18^th (Service) Battalion, King’s (Liverpool Regiment) (2^nd City) and 19^th (Service) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (4^th City).

The attack by 21^st Brigade on 1 July 1916 at Montauban was conducted by 18^th Liverpool Pals on the left with 19^th Manchester Pals on the right. 2^nd Green Howards was in support with 2^nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment in reserve.^[3] Two platoons from 2^nd Green Howards were detached to the two attacking battalions as clearing platoons—Parisotti’s platoon being attached to the Liverpool Pals and that of Second Lieutenant Arthur Dickinson to the Manchester Pals. As the attack progressed, 18^th Liverpool Pals suffered grievously from a machine-gun firing into its left flank, which also inflicted severe casualties on Parisotti’s platoon and those advancing on the left flank of 2^nd Green Howards. Parisotti was one of those wounded in this endeavour; the battalion’s war diary gave an account of the action:

‘Of the 2 ‘clearing’ platoons, one, 2Lt PARISOTTI’S had been practically exterminated in the crossing. One or two men under Cpl PEAT who succeeded in reaching the German trench did very good work and held up a party of Germans who were bombing their way up from VALLEY TRENCH until the other platoon under 2Lt DICKINSON came to their assistance. 2Lt DICKINSON with commendable promptitude and decision, on seeing the state of affairs, at once got his men on to the top and overwhelmed a considerably superior number of Germans who threw up their hands.’ ^[4]

For their gallantry that day, Second Lieutenant Dickinson was awarded the Military Cross and Corporal Peat was awarded the Military Medal.^[5]

18^th Liverpool Pals lost almost 500 all ranks killed and wounded and 2^nd Green Howards sustained about half that number of casualties. Parisotti was evacuated to the United Kingdom for medical treatment and did not return to the battalion. After he recovered from his injuries he applied for the Indian Army, into which he was admitted as a lieutenant on probation on 28 November 1917. He joined 2/3^rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles on 9 December 1917 and at some time thereafter was attached to 3/7^th Gurkha Rifles, with which he took part in the Third Anglo-Afghan War.

4^th Battalion, 39^th Garhwal Rifles was raised at Dehra Dun in the Garhwali District of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh^[6] on 28 October 1918. ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies were transferred from the 3^rd Battalion and ‘C’ and ‘D’ Companies joined from 3/11^th Gurkha Rifles in November.^[7] One of the officers to join at this time was Second Lieutenant W. D. Kenny, newly commissioned into 3/11^th Gurkha Rifles. In May 1919 during the Third Anglo-Afghan War the battalion was engaged in fighting Afghan forces at Thal and after the armistice was stationed at the Peiwar Pass on the Afghan border. Parisotti was posted to 4^th Battalion, 39^th Garhwal Rifles on 3 November 1919 as officer commanding ‘D’ Company.

In late 1919 ‘Waziristan Force’ had been mobilised to subdue the Tochi Wazirs and the Mahsud tribes that had become even more hostile to British presence after the conclusion of the Third Anglo-Afghan War and had conducted numerous raids against British posts; in the period between the armistice and the beginning of the operations on 3 November, the Indian Army had lost 139 all ranks killed and 159 wounded. The background to the campaign and its conduct may be read in the despatch by Commander-in-Chief in India^[8] and in the history of the campaign produced by the Army General Staff.^[9]

Ordered to join Waziristan Force, the battalion marched to Kohat and then Bannu before joining the Tochi Column near Miranshah.

The operation by Waziristan Force was a considerable undertaking. The force numbered a little under 30,000 troops with about 33,000 non-combatants in support. The first part of the operation would be against the Tochi Wazirs, mounted by the Tochi Column (two brigades, 43^rd and 67^th) advancing from Miranshah north-east to Datta Khel. This operation was largely uneventful and by the end of the month the troops were back at Miranshah. The subsequent operation against the Mahsud (Maseed) was another matter. The target of the operation was ultimately the Mahsud town of Kaniguram. At that time no road existed to the south-east between Miranshah and Kaniguram and the direct route there over the snow-covered Razmak Narai negated that course. Instead the formation, now renamed the Derajat Column, would march via Bannu and Pezu to a concentration area at Jandola. That manoeuvre was complete by mid-December and preparations were made for the advance north-west up the Takki Zam river. The fighting throughout the early advance immediately north of Jandola was tough and by 21 December five battalions had been heavily engaged and were in need of relief. In consequence, two battalions were withdrawn from the column for duties on the line of communication and were replaced by 4/39^th Garhwal Rifles, 2/76^th Punjabis and 2/152^nd Punjabis. By the end of the year the entrance to the route north along the Takki Zam (the Spinkai Ghash^[10]) had been secured and on 29 December the column headquarters and 43^rd Brigade moved four miles farther up the river to Kotkai.

Over the next several days piquets were established on the high ground north of Kotkai. This operation was largely unopposed but on 2 January, during work to establish a piquet on ‘Scrub Hill’, an attack was mounted against 4/39^th Garhwal Rifles, the covering force on Spin Ghara ridge farther to the north.^[11]

The action is described in the regimental history, and should be reproduced in full:

‘At 10.40 hours objectives were taken without opposition, except for long-range sniping from across the Inzar Tangi. ‘C’ Company, however, in its position on the exposed flank, was heavily sniped from inaccessible hills about 350 to 600 yards away, but effectually counter-sniped the enemy. At about 11.50 hours the enemy, moving up the nallahs to the west, developed an attack 100 strong, under cover of a heavy fire from the north-east, against this company. As the casualties were now considerable, ‘C’ Company was reinforced by ‘D’ Company. At 13.00 hours parties of the enemy were seen in the distant river bed of the Tank Zam moving south. Casualties from sniping further increased, and Lieutenant L. Parisotti, ‘D’ Company Commander, was killed at this time. At about 14.15 hours the second enemy attack developed; rushes were made by the enemy, and fighting at close quarters ensued. The attack was driven off by bombs and Lewis gun fire. Lieutenant W. D. Kenny, ‘C’ Company Commander, used bombs and a rifle himself with great effect. Where there was open ground and a field of fire the enemy broke and fled in disorder, but from now onwards they remained in the dead ground within bombing distance. A charge by the company was impossible down the steep rocky hillsides, and was subject to heavy enfilade fire. Casualties were coming back steadily, and evacuation became exceedingly difficult owing to the number of carriers required and the particularly steep ground. During the second attack ‘B’ Company caught a party of the enemy 80 strong in a nallah, and inflicted heavy casualties with a Lewis gun.

In spite of hand grenades and artillery and aeroplane support, the enemy at 14.50 hours developed the heaviest attack of the day against the right flank, and hand-to-hand fighting ensued. The enemy in the rear shouted and charged. Lieutenant Kenny himself freely used the bayonet and organized counter-cheers of “Garhwal”, and this attack was also driven back to the dead ground close below the position. The time of withdrawal was 15.00 hours, but the last attack and evacuation of wounded necessitated postponement till 15.15 hours, at which time ‘C’ and ‘D’ Companies commenced to retire, covered by ‘B’ Company, who punished the enemy attempting to follow up over the crest. At this moment Subadar Jhagar Sing Bisht, ‘C’ Company, seeing a Lewis gun in danger of capture, though wounded in the left hand, came to grips with the leading Mahsud and knocked him down with a stone, saving the gun. For his conspicuous gallantry on this occasion Subadar Jhagar Sing Bisht gained the immediate award of the 2^nd Class Indian Order of Merit.

Lieutenant Kenny had now retired the greater part of ‘C’ and ‘D’ Companies, but, seeing further casualties, he returned with a handful of men left with him and charged the enemy, enabling the casualties to be removed.

He fought, using his kukri and revolver, till he and his men were killed. This gallant act of self-sacrifice also assisted the withdrawal from the whole position. The posthumous award of the Victoria Cross was subsequently made for Lieutenant Kenny’s most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty on this occasion. In the award to their leader rests the recognition of the gallant ‘handful’ who went back and died with him.

The command of ‘C’ and ‘D’ Companies now devolved on Subadar Indar Sing Bisht, who continued to direct their retirement with great skill and gallantry, and drove back two enemy attacks, thus gaining the immediate award of the 2^nd Class Indian Order of Merit. The withdrawal was carried out by all in an orderly manner, covered by two companies 57^th Rifles. But the Mahsuds, who temporarily and quickly showed themselves along the ridge in large numbers, contrary to their custom declined to follow up the withdrawal.’^[12]

The bodies of both officers were brought back from the ridge and were buried in Jandola Cemetery.^[13] The remains of the 28 Garhwali troops killed in action were cremated. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has not been able to maintain Jandola Cemetery and all of the casualties buried there who died between 4 August 1914 and 31 August 1921 are commemorated on the India Gate in New Delhi, as are all of the Indian troops who died during the campaign. In addition to those killed, the action cost the battalion 29 wounded. A list of the British and Garhwali casualties from 4/39^th Garhwal Rifles for the campaign in Waziristan between November 1919 and May 1920 may be found here.

Kenny’s Victoria Cross was announced in the London Gazette the following September.^[14] It was presented to his father by King George V at Buckingham Palace on 3 November. Subadar Indar Sing Bisht,Subadar Jhagar Sing Bisht and Havildar Daulat Sing Punir were awarded the Indian Order of Merit. In addition, Naik Sultan Sing Rawat and Rifleman Kishen Sing Thakuli received the Indian Distinguished Service Medal. All four were amongst those mentioned in despatches. For a list of awards to 4/39^th Garhwal Rifles for the campaign see here.

Luigi Parisotti was not the only member of his family to serve nor the only tragedy. His younger brother Joseph served with 1^st Battalion, Irish Guards; he died of wounds on 2 April 1918, aged 18, in No. 22 General Hospital at Camiers; his wounds possibly sustained near Boisleux-Saint-Marc south of Arras during the early part of the German offensive at the end of March.^[15] He is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery.

His older brother Albert was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in July 1912. He was commissioned into the Royal Army Chaplains Department in September 1915 and served with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force during the Gallipoli Campaign aboard the hospital ship Kildonan Castle. For his services in the Palestine Campaign he was appointed an OBE in 1919 and mentioned in despatches.^[16] He continued to serve with the Royal Army Chaplains Department (reverting in grade after the war) and was appointed Chaplain to the Forces 3^rd Class in 1931, 2^nd Class in 1935, and 1^st Class in 1938. He served throughout the Second World War (as Chaplain to the Forces 1^st Class, ranking as Colonel) and retired on 8 May 1945. The Reverend Albert Parisotti OBE died in Leicestershire in 1970, aged 84.

Sources:
Photo of Luigi Parisotti : Ryan Johnson.
Map of North-West Frontier Operations: Evatt, J. (1922). Historical Record of the 39th Royal Garhwal Rifles. Vol. 1 1887-1922. Aldershot: Gale and Polden.
Map Jandola to Kotkai: History of the campaign: General Staff, Army Headquarters India. (1921). Operations in Waziristan, 1919-1920. Calcutta: Government Printing.
View from Kotkai Camp: History of the campaign, op cit.
Satellite Image of Kotkai: Google.

---

1. (Back) Luigi Parisotti (21 June 1853-6 April 1923) married Sarah Augusta Geary (9 April 1955-1929) in London in 1884. Although from an English family, Sarah had been born in New York. Luigi senior was a music (singing) teacher who began his career in Rome; he also gave well-received vocal performances. He emigrated to the United States in December 1915 and his wife followed in 1918. The couple lived in an apartment on Claremont Avenue in New York, where Luigi died of pneumonia in 1923. (Obituary: The Musical Leader, 12 April 1923. Vol. 45, No. 15, p. 344.) His wife died in England in 1929.
2. (Back) For information about Stonyhurst during the war see the school magazine archive.
3. (Back) For an excellent description of the battle with maps and illustrations see Zero Hour Z Day.
4. (Back) The National Archives (TNA). 2 Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. WO/95/2329/2.
5. (Back) Military Cross. Second Lieutenant Arthur Dickinson, 2^nd Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment). For conspicuous gallantry during operations. He met a superior number of the enemy firing at our advancing troops and bombing up the captured trench. He at once got his platoon on the top of the parapet and killed or captured the whole enemy party. LG 25 August 1916; 29724, p. 8459. Company Quartermaster Sergeant Arthur Dickinson had been commissioned from a service battalion on 23 April 1916 and joined the 2^nd Battalion at the end of that month. His award was notified on 26 July 1916. In January 1917 he joined ‘C’ Company as a platoon commander before leaving the battalion to become an instructor at 30^th Division’s depot. He rejoined the battalion in the spring before being sent to England as a bombing instructor. After a return to ‘C’ Company in the autumn, at the end of 1917 he left to join the Machine Gun Corps Training Centre at Grantham. He subsequently transferred to the Machine Gun Corps.
Military Medal. 7838 Corporal Duncan Peat, 2^nd Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales’s Own (Yorkshire Regiment). LG 16 November 1916; 29827, p. 11142.
6. (Back) Now Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
7. (Back) These were two companies from 39^th Garhwal Rifles that had been transferred to form ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies of 3/11^th Gurkha Rifles when it had been raised in Iraq in May 1918. The battalion had arrived back in India in June 1918.
8. (Back) Despatch by Commander-in-Chief in India: LG 8 December 1920; 32156.
9. (Back) History of the campaign: General Staff, Army Headquarters India. (1921). Operations in Waziristan, 1919-1920. Calcutta: Government Printing. (Accessed here.)
10. (Back) The pass is just to the west of the site of Spinkai Cadet College, Jandola, the location then of the brigade’s encampment for these operations.
11. (Back) The attack on 4/39^th Garhwal Rifles was against the northern flank of the battalion in the area between coordinates 32.440792, 70.021546 and 32.444229, 70.023724. Scrub Hill piquet was at approximately 32.427390, 70.029450.
11. (Back) 109^th Infantry, 4/39^th Garhwal Rifles, 2/150^th Infantry and 2/152^nd Punjabis.
12. (Back) Evatt, J. (1922). Historical Record of the 39^th Royal Garhwal Rifles. Vol. 1 1887-1922. Aldershot: Gale and Polden. pp. 111-113.
13. (Back) Unmaintained in the intervening years, Jandola Cemetery is now derelict. As far as can be ascertained, the cemetery is to the rear and a short distance north-east of Jandola Fort near coordinates 32.336151, 70.121402.
14. (Back) LG 8 December 1920; 32156. His Victoria Cross was displayed at the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum, London. It remains in the Lord Ashcroft Collection.
15. (Back) 12322 Private Joseph Bernard Bruno Parisotti, 1^st Battalion, Irish Guards.
16. (Back) OBE (Military). Chaplain to the Forces 3^rd Class Reverend Albert Parisotti. Deputy Assistant Principal Chaplain. Palestine Campaign. LG 3 June 1919; 31371, p. 6924.
Despatches. Chaplain to the Forces 3^rd Class Reverend Albert Parisotti. Deputy Assistant Principal Chaplain. Palestine Campaign. LG 5 June 1919; 31383, p. 7174.