John Follansbee Bredin Delap
| Rank: | Second Lieutenant |
| Regiment: | Alexandra, Princess of Wales’ Own (Yorkshire Regiment), 1st Bn |
| Country: | France |
| Cemetary/Memorial: | AIF Burial Ground, Flers (XI. C. 4.) |
| Awards: | British War Medal Victory Medal |
Born on 30th June 1897 in London, Second Lieutenant Delap was killed on the Somme on 18th October 1916, aged 19.
He was the eldest son of Reverend Louis Bredin Delap (1867-1933) and Jennie Charlotte Delap (nee Follansbee, 1822-1875), of Benhall Vicarage, Saxmundham, Suffolk. His brother, Bredin Réné (1899-1970), also attended Saint Ronan’s. He also had a sister, Sheila (1905–1981). Another sister, Joan died in infancy (1900-1901).
Known as ‘Johnnie’, he and Bredin attended Saint Ronan’s together. In 1910, Johnnie and his brother won prizes for Gymnastics. In 1911, he won a Classics prize and played for the Cricket team.
In 1912, Johnnie was a noted football player – “Delap, ma., at outside right, was one of the most improved players of the side and learned to combine exceedingly well with his partner. He has been responsible for many of the goals scored by Morris; he passes nicely and uses his pace to advantage.” And, “For S. Ronan’s Morris and Delap played beautifully together in the forward line, and were quite the best wing on the field.”
He was confirmed by the Bishop of Chichester in March 1912.
Johnnie returned to visit the school on Old Boys’ Day in April 1913 and in 1915 to play in the Old Boys’ Cricket Match, where his performance was described as ‘brilliant’.
He went on to Repton in 1912 where he was in New House. In 1913, The Ronian reported a letter from the school, which said “J. F. B. Delap won great glory in athletics, for he played frequently for Mr. Stratton’s 1st House XI., and played very well in the under-sixteen house matches.”
He won the House Cap for Football in 1915, before going up to the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. His brother also attended Repton.
In 1915, The Ronian reports that Johnnie, along with a couple of his classmates planned to publish a book, “Deeds of Daring, Old Boys’ Memoirs”.
Following his time at Sandhurst, Johnnie was commissioned on 22nd December 1915 and joined the 2nd Battalion in 1916 after the attack on Montauban. The Battalion stayed on the Somme in and out of the line, and on 17th October moved up for an attack near the Le Transloy Ridges in the Gueudecoourt area.
On 18th October 1916, he was posted as “wounded and missing” (Richard Roberts, Yorkshire Regiment WW1 Remebrance website) after an attack on Bayonet Trench. He was never seen alive again, although his body was later recovered.
The Reptonian recorded the following obituary in June 1917:
“Although not brilliant, he was a very useful member of the House both in work and games. He entered Sandhurst in August 1915 and received his commission in December of the same year.
On October 18th 1916 he was reported wounded and missing, but is now believed to have been killed. His fellow officers and men report that he behaved splendidly in the night attack, was hit once while moving forward with the front line of his company, but got up again and went on. Hit the second time, he refused all help from his men, saying, “Never mind me, go on,” and waved them on to the attack. “A splendid example,” his Adjutant writes, “of self-sacrificing gallantry.”
Another officer writes: “Although one of the youngest, he was one of the most valuable officers we have had. I don’t think he knew what fear was, or if he did, he never showed it, which is still finer.”
The following article was published in The Ronian, in 1918:
“The following lines to Johnnie Delap came to us anonymously last term; we print them exactly as they arrived:
When in the times to be strange circumstance
Shall guide my footsteps to the foreign shore,
Where sun-dried mounds proclaim the plains of France,
Where you went bravely and were seen no more.
If in the giant voice of winds that cry
Your gay fine boyish laugh is ever lost—
Minding the love we loved with, you and I,
Love passing that of man to man, almost
A sacred gift that made us blindly true
To one another, and so quick to praise—
Then shall I go softly, thinking of you,
O best remembered from the far off days.
From an old S. Ronan’s boy on Active Service.
In Memory. October, 1918.”
In August 1923 Stanley Harris wrote a small book, “The Master and His Boys” which he dedicated to Johnnie Delap:
“Johnnie”
J.F.B Delap
Killed in France, 1916, Aged 19
One of the finest of the
many fine boy characters it has
been my privilege to know.
His brother, Bredin served in the Royal Navy during the War and survived. He served upon HMS Vernon and Southampton. He was commended for his actions in the Battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle in World War I. Following the War, he returned to his studies, attending Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1919. He travelled to the USA as a teacher in 1920, returning from Boston in 1928.
