Page 130 - They Also Served

After nine days, and pursuit from an angry bull after they tried to milk it by mistake, they made it across the Ems River and the Dutch border to freedom.
Returning to the UK, Templer had an audience with the king, and Field Marshal Henry Wilson ordered his exploits from 13 escape attempts to be published and circulated in a pamphlet entitled Behind The German Lines so that others could learn from his experiences. Templer also wrote to the commandant at Ströhen, giving a forwarding address for any mail he might receive at the camp. Anxious to return to the fray, Templer took command of D Company, 1st Battalion, Glosters. However, he was killed by a shell returning from a successful patrol on 4th June 1918, aged just 22. He is commemorated not only in his regimental column in the Royal Memorial Chapel at Sandhurst, but also with an individual memorial that lists some of his exploits. The list of subscribers to the inscription has also survived, and we know that this cost £52.
Templer wrote several poems and essays during his captivity – around a third of these were recovered by brother officers from his possessions left behind when he escaped from Ströhen. These were published into a book: Poems and Imaginings: Written in Captivity in Germany. While not as famous as other war poets, such as Siegfried Sassoon or Wilfred Owen, his work is widely appreciated for its youthful exuberance and lack of cynicism.
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