Major Valentine Fleming, DSO (circa 1887 – May 20, 1917) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament who was killed in World War I. Source: Veterans Affairs Canada The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and other formerly Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat. ... May 20 is the 140th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (141st in leap years). ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... The Conservative Party is one of the two largest political parties in the United Kingdom and the most successful party in political history based on election victories. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... Combatants Allies: Serbia, Russia, France, Romania, Belgium, British Empire, United States, Italy, and others Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead: 5 million Civilian deaths: 3 million Total of dead: 8 million Military dead: 4 million Civilian deaths: 3 million Total dead: 7 million The First...

Early Years

Born in Fife, Scotland, Valentine was the son of the wealthy Scottish banker Robert Fleming. He was married to Evelyn St.Croix Fleming (née Rose} and the father of Peter Fleming, Ian Fleming (the novelist who wrote the James Bond books), Richard Fleming and Michael Fleming. Fife (Fìobh in Gaelic) is a council area of Scotland, situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with landward boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... Robert Fleming (1845 - 1933) was a wealthy merchant banker. ... Evelyn St. ... This article is about Peter Fleming the writer. ... Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (May 28, 1908 – August 12, 1964) was an English author and journalist, best remembered for writing the James Bond series of novels as well as the childrens story, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond, also known as 007 (pronounced double-oh seven), is a fictional British spy created by writer Ian Fleming in 1953. ... Michael Valentine Fleming (1919? - 1st October 1940) was the son of Valentine Fleming and brother of Ian Fleming and Peter Fleming. ...

From 1906 to 1911, the family lived at Braziers Park close to Wallingford. On election to parliament, they moved to Pitt House on Hampstead Heath in 1910. He was a Member of Parliament for Henley from 1910–1917. In 1914 they built a house at Arnisdale, near Kyle of Lochalsh in the Scottish Highlands. Map sources for Wallingford at grid reference SU6089 Wallingford is a small town in Oxfordshire in southern England. ... Hampstead Heath is a park in the north of London, covering 791 acres (3. ... Henley is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Kyle of Lochalsh is a small village on the North-West coast of Scotland, which developed in the late 19th century with the arrival of the railway. ... The Scottish Highlands are the mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault. ...

War Years

In 1914, Valentine joined the Oxfordshire Yeomanry, rising to the rank of Major. Major is a military rank denoting an officer of mid-level command status. ...

During World War I, he wrote to close friend Winston Churchill in 1914. The following is an excerpt: Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician and author, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ...

Imagine a broad belt [of land], ten miles or so in width, stretching from the Channel to the German frontier near Basle, which is positively littered with the bodies of men…in which farms, villages, and cottages are shapeless heaps of blackened masonry; in which fields, roads and trees are pitted and torn and twisted by [artillery] shells...

He was killed by German bombing in Gillemont Farm area, Picardy, France on May 20, 1917. For his service, Valentine was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Order. wazzup Categories: | ... May 20 is the 140th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (141st in leap years). ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Source: Veterans Affairs Canada The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and other formerly Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat. ...

Fleming's obituary was written by Churchill.

Legacy

After his death, Evelyn inherited Valentine's large estate in trust, making her very wealthy. The trust, though, cut her out should she ever re-marry which virtually guaranteed that she would remain forever Valentine's widow, regardless of other loves or circumstances.