Leicester Frederick Struben’s story begins far from the battlefields where it ended. He was born in Torquay on 25 April 1893, the son of Frederick and Mabel Struben. The family lived a comfortable life, first in Torquay and later at Spitchwick Manor near Poundsgate, surrounded by the wooded slopes of the Dart valley. Leicester grew up with his sisters Gertrude and Florence Lillian, and for a short time with his younger brother John, whose early death left a lasting mark on the family.
Although Leicester was Devon‑born, the Strubens’ roots stretched back to South Africa. His father and uncle had been among the early pioneers of the Witwatersrand goldfields, and their success there allowed Frederick to purchase the Spitchwick estate and settle into the life of a country gentleman. The family travelled frequently between Devon and South Africa, and it was during one such visit — to celebrate Florence Lillian’s wedding — that they found themselves unable to return home once war broke out in 1914.
Leicester’s education followed the expected path for a young man of his background. He attended Eton from 1907 to 1911, and after leaving school he spent time in South Africa, where he served as a trooper in the Mounted Rifles of the South African Defence Force. This early military experience would shape the course of his short life.
On 25 August 1914, only weeks after the outbreak of war, Leicester was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Cheshire Regiment. A few months later he transferred to the 7th (Princess Royal’s) Dragoon Guards, a cavalry regiment with a long and distinguished history. In April 1916 he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps, part of the generation of young officers who moved from horses to aircraft in the space of a single war. He was promoted to Lieutenant that November.
After only limited training, Leicester was posted to No. 70 Squadron, based at Fienvillers in the Pas‑de‑Calais. The squadron flew Sopwith One‑and‑a‑Half Strutters, early two‑seater aircraft used for reconnaissance and artillery spotting. It is likely that Leicester flew missions over the Somme battlefields during September 1916, when another man from the Widecombe area, Private Henry James Broome, was killed in the fighting at Flers‑Courcelette.
On the afternoon of 16 November 1916, Leicester took off from Fienvillers as the observer in Strutter A3432, flown by 18‑year‑old Sergeant‑Pilot Robert Stovell Evans. Their task was to observe German troop movements south of Bancourt, near Bapaume. At roughly the same time, Oberleutnant Stefan Kirmaier of Jasta 2 took off from Lagnicourt. Kirmaier intercepted the Strutter and shot it down behind German lines, killing both Evans and Struben. Six days later, Kirmaier himself was killed in combat with the Royal Flying Corps.
Leicester was originally buried by German forces at Cloudy Trench Cemetery, Gueudecourt. After the area was retaken in 1917, his remains were moved to the newly established Bancourt British Cemetery, where he lies today among many who fell in the same bitter fighting.
Back in Devon, Leicester’s family ensured that his name would not be forgotten. A memorial tablet in St John the Baptist Church, Leusdon, commemorates his service and sacrifice, using the language of duty and endurance that marked so many First World War memorials. The hall built in his memory — Leusdon Memorial Hall — still serves the community a century later, a practical and lasting tribute to a young man whose life bridged two continents and whose death brought the global conflict of 1914–18 into the heart of the Dartmoor landscape.
