Captain Thomas William Bevis COULSON (1930)

1 Bombardment Unit, Royal Artillery
Born 11 April 1912 in Wincanton, Somerset
Died of wounds 6 November 1944, aged 32
Buried at Oostende New Communal Cemetery, Belgium; also commemorated on a panel in Charterhouse School Memorial Chapel, Godalming, Surrey; and in St Peter & St Paul Church, Wincanton.

Thomas Coulson, who was known as ‘Bev’, was the first son of Dr Thomas Edmund Coulson and Eva Mary Coulson, and the husband of Vera, née Leigh, of Wincanton, Somerset. Thomas and Vera had two sons, Peter and Bevis.

Coulson was at Charterhouse School from 1925 to 1930, and whilst at Merton he boxed for the University.

He remained a keen cricketer and association footballer, playing both sports for Wincanton teams. He was offered a place in the Somerset County cricket team but declined.

He joined the army at the outbreak of war, gaining a commission in the Royal Artillery, and saw service in Iceland and Northern Ireland before specialising as a Gunnery Officer.

Serving as a Bombardment Liaison Officer on board LCG11 during the landings on Walcheren, he was mortally wounded when the landing craft was hit by fire from an on-shore German gun battery. He died of his wounds on 6 November 1944, aged 32.