Background to the Lendy Memorial

To the memory of

Charles Frederick Lendy Captain RA

Who died at Buluwayo South Africa 15th January 1894 aged 30 from the effects of
the Matabele campaign throughout which he served in command of the guns
with indefatigable zeal and conspicuous bravery

And of

Edward August William Lendy DSO

Killed in action 23rd December 1893 at Warina West Africa aged 25 Captain Sherwood
Foresters and Seconded as Inspector General Sierra Leone Frontier Police

The only sons of the late Major A F Lendy of Sunbury-on-Thames

This fountain has been erected in their native village by their friends
as a tribute to the memory of two brave men

Other memorials, one for each brother, were erected at different locations. The younger brother, E A Lendy, is remembered in Sierra Leone. There is a monument to C F Lendy at Bulawayo in Zimbabwe. There is also a brass plaque to both brothers in St Mary's church, Sunbury. 

Charles Frederick Lendy

There is a comprehensive account of the life of Charles Frederick Lendy in

"Captain CF Lendy - A Victorian Hero?" By Major R Marston RAEC

Army Quarterly & Defence Journal, 118 (2), p203, 1988

In addition, this website concentrates on CFL's role in the founding of Rhodesia. He was instrumental in introducing the Maxim machine gun to warfare, and is sometimes referred to as "Maxim" Lendy.

According to the Army Quarterly and Defence article, he collapsed and died of peritonitis on 15th January 1894. Elsewhere, another interpretation places him at the Tati Hotel (in Botswana) where his illness was attributed to a heavy bout of drinking and eating.

Edward August Lendy

In 1890 Edward August Lendy received a Distinguished Service Order for operations against slave traders in Sierra Leone.

In the autumn of 1893 he bravely rescued several of his men from drowning during an ill advised river crossing. For this he was awarded the Silver Medal of the Royal Geographical Society.

However, he never collected this as he was subsequently killed in a case of "friendly fire" by French forces with whom the British were allied. This tragic event occurred at Waiima on 23rd December 1893.

The medal images were taken from the website of his school, Haileybury in Hertfordshire.

Major August Frederick Lendy

Major Lendy ran the Sunbury Military College at which both of his sons received training. Only the east wing, at the end of Loudwater Close, remains. The central section was destroyed by fire at the end of 1915. The west wing survived, later as a two storey building, until the 1970s when it was demolished to make room for a new housing development.    Both wings can be seen in this aerial photograph taken in 1929.

AFL authored many books, including "Elements of Fortification", a text for "the use of students, civilian and military". This was published by John W Parker and Son of The Strand, London in 1857.