Alexander Malins Lafone

The Seven-Hour Last Stand at El Buqqar Ridge “My casualties are heavy... I shall hold on till the last.” Those words, written from an isolated position in Palestine on 27 October 1917, capture the final hours of Major Alexander Malins Lafone VC, an officer of the Middlesex Yeomanry whose last stand at Hill 720 during the Battle of El Buqqar Ridge became one of the most remarkable Victoria Cross actions of the First World War. His original field message survives in the archives of Dulwich College. Dulwich College Great War Memorial For more than seven hours, Lafone and a small force of Yeomanry held an exposed position against overwhelmingly superior Ottoman forces. Almost every man around him became a casualty. He was eventually surrounded, yet continued fighting until he was mortally wounded. The official citation would later describe his conduct as one of “most conspicuous bravery, leadership and self-sacrifice.” The Gazette But the story of Alexander Lafone did not begin at Hill 720. By the time of his final battle, he had already been a soldier in South Africa, an engineer in India, a colonial official in Nigeria, a businessman in London, and an experienced Yeomanry officer who had served through several very different theatres of the First World War. From Liverpool to India Alexander Malins Lafone was born on 19 August 1870 in the Waterloo district of Liverpool, the son of Henry Lafone and his wife Lucy, née Malins. His family later settled in the London area, and Alexander attended Dulwich College from 1881 to 1889. After leaving school he studied engineering for approximately two years before working for Marshall and Sons at Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. Dulwich College Great War Memorial His civilian career soon took him much farther from Britain. In 1894 he travelled to Assam, India, where he became an assistant manager and engineer with the Jokai Tea Company. He returned to Britain in 1897 and joined his father's business interests at Butler's Wharf in London, later becoming involved with several companies of his own. Lord Ashcroft War changed the direction of his life. The Second Boer War On 28 December 1899, Lafone joined the Montgomeryshire Yeomanry. He subsequently went to South Africa and saw active service during the Second Boer War. On 18 August 1900, during operations in the Transvaal, he was wounded in the right eye. He returned to England in December that year. Lord Ashcroft His South African service earned him the Queen's South Africa Medal with three clasps, the first campaign medal in the group that would eventually record service across two wars. victoriacrossonline.co.uk Lafone did not leave soldiering behind after recovering. He subsequently received a commission in the Middlesex Yeomanry. The London Gazette records him as a Second Lieutenant in the Middlesex (Duke of Cambridge's Hussars) Imperial Yeomanry, and on 27 September 1902 he was promoted to Lieutenant. The Gazette His civilian life again carried him overseas. In 1903 he went to Northern Nigeria under the Colonial Office, eventually serving in Kabba Province. Repeated attacks of fever forced his return to Britain, where he resumed commercial work while maintaining his connection with the Yeomanry. Dulwich College Great War Memorial That long association with the regiment mattered. On 18 May 1912, Captain Alexander M. Lafone was promoted to Major in the 1st County of London (Middlesex, Duke of Cambridge's Hussars) Yeomanry. The Gazette Two years later, Europe was at war. From Egypt to Gallipoli, Sinai and Macedonia When the First World War began in August 1914, Lafone returned to active military service and commanded B Squadron of the Middlesex Yeomanry. His regiment trained in Britain before sailing for Egypt in April 1915. Dulwich College Great War Memorial His Gallipoli experience deserves careful description. When the Yeomanry moved toward the Dardanelles, Lafone initially remained at Lemnos as a reserve officer. He later joined his regiment at Chocolate Hill, Suvla Bay, but remained there only briefly before being ordered back to Lemnos. The regiment returned to Egypt in November 1915, where Lafone again assumed command of B Squadron. Dulwich College Great War Memorial During 1916 he led mounted and infantry columns on expeditions into the Sinai Desert. His surviving regimental record notes an action on 18 August in which his force spent hours under heavy rifle fire before driving its opponents from their position. Later that year B Squadron went to Macedonia, serving on the front around Lake Doiran. Dulwich College Great War Memorial In June 1917 the regiment returned to Egypt for the renewed British advance into Palestine. Lafone briefly went home on leave before rejoining his men ahead of the operations around Beersheba. Dulwich College Great War Memorial His next major action would be his last. Hill 720 and the Battle of El Buqqar Ridge On 27 October 1917, Ottoman forces launched a powerful counterattack against British outposts near El Buqqar, south of Gaza and close to the approaches to Beersheba. One of those positions was Hill 720, held by troops of B Squadron under Major Lafone. The position was isolated and exposed. For more than seven hours, according to the official Victoria Cross citation, Lafone's men faced forces vastly superior in strength while under heavy shelling. When Ottoman cavalry attacked his flank, his defenders drove them back. Another charge reached almost to the trench itself. Fifteen enemy casualties were left within twenty yards of the position, and one attacker who reached Lafone's trench was personally fought by the Major. The Gazette The defence became increasingly desperate. One by one, Lafone's men were hit. Eventually only three remained unwounded, while the trench had become so crowded with casualties that movement and firing were increasingly difficult. Lafone ordered those still capable of moving to make for a trench slightly farther to the rear. He remained behind. His surviving field message from the action records the gravity of the situation and his determination to continue holding the position. In his own hand appears the promise that he would “hold on till the last.” Dulwich College Great War Memorial He did. When the enemy finally surrounded and charged his position, Lafone stepped into the open and continued fighting. The official citation records that he resisted until he was mortally wounded and fell unconscious. His leadership had kept the position in British hands for hours at a critical moment in the fighting. The Gazette Major Alexander Malins Lafone died that day. He was 47 years old. The Victoria Cross Lafone's conduct at Hill 720 resulted in the posthumous award of the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest decoration for gallantry in the presence of the enemy. The official citation appeared in The London Gazette, issue 30433, page 13222, in the supplement dated 18 December 1917. It praised not only his bravery, but also his leadership, self-sacrifice, cheerfulness and devotion while maintaining a position he had been ordered to hold at all costs. The Gazette notably printed his middle name incorrectly as “Malius” rather than Malins. The Gazette Because Lafone had already been killed, he could never wear the decoration he had earned. His brother, Archdeacon Henry Pownall Malins Lafone, received the Victoria Cross from King George V at Buckingham Palace on 2 March 1918. Lord Ashcroft His complete surviving medal group tells the broader story of his military life. Alongside the Victoria Cross are his Queen's South Africa Medal with three clasps, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal 1914-1920, and Victory Medal 1914-1919. The group is preserved at his former school, Dulwich College. victoriacrossonline.co.uk A Soldier Remembered Lafone was initially buried close to the battlefield and was later reinterred in Beersheba War Cemetery, where his grave is recorded as Plot Q, Grave 7. Dulwich College likewise records his death on 27 October 1917 and preserves both his memory and important original documents relating to his service. Dulwich College Great War Memorial His death came only four days before the Battle of Beersheba and the beginning of the British offensive that broke the Ottoman defensive system in southern Palestine. His position had ultimately been overrun, but the prolonged resistance at El Buqqar helped delay the enemy and protected the preparations for the coming offensive. Lord Ashcroft What makes Major Alexander Malins Lafone VC remarkable is not simply that he died at his post. It is how long he remained there, what he endured, and what he chose to do when almost every man around him had been wounded. He had been given a position to hold. For more than seven hours, under shellfire, repeated attacks and overwhelming odds, he held it. And when there were scarcely any men left to command, Alexander Lafone kept the promise written in his final message. He held on to the last.