Second Lieutenant Charles Isaacs COBURN (1903)

18th (Service) Battalion (Arts & Crafts), King’s Royal Rifle Corps
Born 11 August 1884 in Kensington, London
Killed in action 31 July 1917, aged 32
Commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, West Flanders, Belgium.

Charles Coburn was the son of Henry Isaacs Coburn, a lawyer, and Adah Israel, née Montefiore, of 22 Pandora Road, London. He was married to Dorothy Lindo, née Henry, of 50 Canfield Gardens, London.

He attended St Paul’s School and came up to Merton in 1903. He played rugby for his school, the College, and in trial games for the University. He obtained BA and BCL degrees, and became a solicitor in 1909.

Following service in the Metropolitan Special Constabulary, he enlisted in the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps on 30 October 1916, and after passing through one of the Berkhamsted Cadet Schools obtained a temporary commission in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps on 26 April 1917.

He went to France to join his Battalion in Flanders, and saw action for the first time at the Battle of Messines on 7 June; a week later he took part in the successful attack on ‘Olive Trench’. At 3:50am on 31 July he led his men into action near the village of Hollebeke; he was killed later that morning during an assault on a farm.

The adjutant of his Battalion wrote:

During the short time he was with us he showed himself to be a gallant, reliable, and devoted officer.