Otway Mayne

Otway Mayne was the son of Henry Otway Mayne and Mary Ewer Turner. He was born on 29 Aug 1855 at Auringabad, India. He served in the army from February 1874 and transferred to the 9th East Norfolk Regiment in 1877.

1874 Lieutenant 28 Feb 1877 Transferred to the 9th East Norfolks 1882 Captain 30 Dec 1890 Adjutant 4th Volunteer Battalion 1893 Major 1 May

Lt Mayne was in the Jowaki Campaign against the Afridis 1877-78 and the Afghan War 1878-80 with the 2nd Bn 9th East Norfolks. He was in the advance on Kabul under Brigadier General Charles Gough, including the battles at Jugdulluck and Saidabad, and the relief of Sherpore. He served on the Burmese Expedition of 1889 and was severely wounded in the operations in the Chin country. The History of the Norfolk Regiment by Loraine Petre tells the story.

He was serving with the 2nd battalion in India in the 1880s. While they were at Sitapur and Benares they were ordered to Burma in October 1888. Two villages, Sagyilain and Tartan had been rebuilt by the Chins, and the commander of the British force, Sir George White, sent two columns to destroy the fortified villages. Sagyilain was easy to capture but Tartan was a different matter. Captain Otway Mayne took 65 men of the Norfolk Regiment and 60 of the 42nd Gurkhas on 4 May 1889 and on reaching Tartan found the enemy strongly entrenched in two stockades. The Chins stood their ground against rifle fire but a bayonet charge dislodged them from the lower stockade. Of the Norfolk Regiment, Lt William Michel and two men were killed close up to the stockade. Captain Otway and Surgeon-Captain Le Quesne* were severely wounded along with 9 Gurkhas. Later, Major Mayne wrote about the battle:

‘Michel was killed about 10 to 15 yards away from me in a ravine close against a concealed stockade; in fact, I was going down to fetch him out when I got knocked over and Le Quesne went down and bound him up and brought him out. Le Quesne was later tying up my right arm for me when a bullet passed between us and got him in the left arm. I was with young Michel when he died, about ten minutes later, having been shot high up in the femoral artery. On this occasion also Corporal Stephenson distinguished himself. He was killed and died at the same time as Michel from a spear wound to the throat.’

[ *Ferdinand Simeon Le Quesne VC. born 25 Dec 1863 in Jersey, the Channel Islands. Died in Bristol on 14 April 1950. Gazetted for the Victoria Cross 29 Oct 1889]

Captain Otway Mayne was appointed Adjutant of the 4th Volunteer Battalion from 1890 and left the regiment in 1896 with the rank of major. He was appointed Chief Constable of the Buckinghamshire Constabulary from 1 Aug 1896 to 9 Sep 1928. Major Mayne died on 31 Oct 1939 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

Major Otway Mayne was married to Helena Emily Nevill on 24 Jan 1894 in St Luke’s Chapel, Norwich Cathedral. Helena was the daughter of Venerable Henry Ralph Nevill. Otway and Helena had three daughters, Aurea, Alicia and Rosalind.