Edward, born in September 1892, was the second of the five sons of the Reverend Edward Mears and Mary Florence Mears of Little Bardfield Rectory, Braintree, Essex. He and his next youngest brother were born in Hartlepool as his father moved around the country – first as a parish priest and later as a schoolmaster. His older brother having been born in Barrow in Furness and the youngest two (twins) born in Blandford. Edward was educated first at Milton Abbas Grammar School in Blandford whilst his father was Headmaster there (1900-06), and later at Llandovery College from 1908 until 1911.
Edward was awarded an Eaton Scholarship in Classics and a Goldsmith’s Classical Exhibition at Worcester College, Oxford in 1911. He took second class honours in Classical Moderations in 1913. Whilst at Oxford, Edward trained with the University Officer Training Corps (OTC) and at the outbreak of war he joined, in September 1914, the University and Public Schools Battalion, Royal Fusiliers – then forming at Epsom. He appears to have been initially billeted in a quite comfortable suburban house in Woodcote Park Road, Epsom, at a time when the very rapid expansion of the Army under Kitchener called for some imaginative solutions to accommodate soldiers whilst new training facilities were being erected.
As an ex OTC cadet, Edward applied for a commission, as he put it: ‘in any Essex Regiment’. In December 1914 he was commissioned into the Essex Regiment and posted the 10th battalion (10 ESSEX) which was attached to 53 brigade, 18th (Eastern) Division. 10 ESSEX were a K2 battalion, that is to say they were made up of men who were in the second ‘hundred thousand’ who had volunteered for Kitchener’s Army. After the battalion was raised in Warley in September 1914 it trained first in Shorncliffe, then Colchester and finally in Codford St Mary before leaving for France. On 2nd of May 1915 the division landed in Boulogne to continue its training and begin its introduction to fighting on the Western Front. Reading the battalion war diary, Edward was engaged not only in further training but also reconnaissance patrolling and trench raids in the months leading up to the Somme offensive.
Indeed, 10 ESSEX first major action was on July 1st 1916, when it took part in the first day of the battle of the Somme, Edward being one of four lieutenants in D Coy. Unlike many other units that day, their attack was successful in the sector at Carnoy-Montauban. So successful were they that “within 10 minutes” they had taken front-line trenches and captured many prisoners.
The battalion fought until almost midnight, taking Pommiers Trench, Montauban Alley and Caterpillar Trench. Over 2000 yards was gained, and the battalion was congratulated by the General Staff.
On 12th of July 1916, it was reported the Germans it retaken Trônes Wood and as such, 10 ESSEX was to take part in an early morning attack on the 14th of July to clear the wood. They came under heavy shelling while positioned in Trônes Alley and Bernafey Wood awaiting instructions to move. It was here that Edward was killed. He was 23 years old, and has no known grave, and thus Edward is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the missing. He was 23.
As well as the memorial at Milton Abbas Grammar School and Thiepval, Edward is commemorated at Llandovery College, Worcester College Oxford, and at Little Bardfield Church, Essex where by 1916 his father was Rector. In the flyleaf of a bible his mother wrote:
‘Presented to Little Bardfield Church for use in the Pulpit by Mary Florence Mears in memory of her son Edward de Quincey Mears, 2nd Lieut. 10th Battalion, Essex Regiment: Killed in the Battle of the Somme, France, July 14th, 1916. He “left all and followed Him”
Llandovery College
Little Bardfield Church, Essex
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College, Oxford – detail
Thiepval Memorial to the missing, France
Blandford Schools' Combined War Memorials 