Mr. Osmund Bartle Wordsworth

Osmund Wordsworth, 27, was returning to England on the Lusitania to enlist in the British Army.  He was traveling with his sister Ruth. During the last minutes of the sinking, he gave his lifebelt to someone else.  Even without his lifebelt, Wordsworth managed to escape the wreck and survive. Ruth also survived.

Wordsworth was born 17 May 1887 in Glaston, Rutland, England the fifth child of Rev. Prebendary Christopher Wordsworth and Mary Reeve. Osmund had eight siblings: Dorothy Mary, Christopher Andrews, Ruth Mary, John Vincent, William Arthur, Susanna Mary, Reginald, and Irene.

Osmund was educated at Langton Matravers, Dorset, and Winchester College from 1899 to 1906.  He enrolled in Trinity College at the University of Cambridge in 1906 and received his B.A. in 1909.  He entered the masters’ program in 1911 and received in M.A. in 1913.  He was also a lecturer at Selwyn College at Cambridge from 1911 to 1914.  In 1914, he moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and served as staff at Trinity College there, C.O.T.C. He was also the author of A Happy Exchange, published in 1914.

In June of 1915, Wordsworth received his commission in the 9th Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.  Before going to France he was transferred to the 21st Machine Gun Company and reached the Arras front in September of 1916.  Wordsworth was killed in action at Arras on 2 April 1917.  After bringing into position his guns for assisting the attack on Hénin-sur-Cojeul, Wordsworth saw that the men at one of the other guns were having trouble getting theirs into position.  Refusing to allow any of those whom he had placed in shelter to carry his instructions, he went to help the men himself, and was soon seen to fall, shot through the heart.  Wordsworth was buried in Faubourg-d’Amiens Cemetery near Hénin-sur-Cojeul.

Contributors:
Hildur Panula-Heinonen
Marika Pirie

References:
Panula-Heinonen, Hildur. “Osmund Bartle ‘Barty’ Wordsworth,” Find-A-Grave. Online. Accessed 8 May 2013. <http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=70833352>.

University of Toronto – Roll of Service, 1921, p. 153-4.