5 
war, when he had attained to the rank of an Acting Lieutenant and was A.D.C. 
to the officer commanding the Artillery of the 21st Corps d’ Armee ; he had also 
been recommended for further promotion. I remember his telling me of an 
incident which occurred on one occasion when the axletree-arm of one of his guns 
was shot away, and it was entirely due to his prompt action that the gun was 
saved and was able to retire with the battery which was being hard pressed by the 
Germans. Coffey, who had been studying the R.A. drill books at the Academy, 
and having been instructed how to act when the axletree was disabled, was able to 
apply the proper aids, and by means of spare poles, dragshoes and lashings to 
rapidly extemporize the means whereby the gun could be made to travel. He told 
me that his worst quart dlieure was on one occasion when his battery was pursued 
in a road by German Cuirassiers, and the prospect of cold steel seemed to him far 
more redoubtable than the heavy rifle and artillery fire to which he had become 
comparatively callous. At the last he found himself with the army in a position, 
where they had the sea on one side and the Germans on the other, and he escaped 
a disagreeable denouement by the armistice being agreed on. He was then allowed 
to return to England, and the military authorities at home, at the request of his 
father, reinstated him at the R.M. Academy, on the 1st May, 1871, where he re¬ 
mained until 20th February, 1872, when he passed for his commission in the 
Royal Artillery, which commission was antedated to 15th December, 1871. 
Coffey was favourably reported on by Colonel (now General) the Hon. W. FI. A. 
Feilding, the British military attache at the French Head-Quarters, who mentioned 
in his report that Coffey had received a temporary commission as Sub- 
Lieutenant in the French Artillery, and he added “ and from all sides I hear he 
gives satisfaction.” I have also seen a complimentary letter from General Chanzy 
to Coffey, in which the General expressed a wish that he might confer the “ Legion 
d'Honneur ” on him; this, however, the rules of this country at that time debarred 
him from accepting. Coffey was very modest and reticent with regard to his 
experiences, and unless specially invited or drawn out he rarely discussed them. 
It is some 22 years since he told me, when we were both quartered at Devonport, 
what I have endeavoured to recall to mind now, and he told me a good deal more 
which I am unable after this lapse of time to bring to mind so as to relate with 
sufficient accuracy. There are probably others of Coffey’s friends who may know 
more details of an interesting nature. I, however, thought it would be a pity not 
to put on record what little 1 did know, and venture to think it adds one more 
curious page to the very long chapter of adventures of officers of the Royal 
Artillery. 
On the occasion of a visit of the Empress Eugenie to Malta in 1877 or 1878, 
the officers of the R.A., who had been at the R.M. Academy with the late Prince 
Imperial, were fallen out on a review parade and introduced to the Empress. 
Coffey, who was serving at Malta and was present on this occasion, was fallen out 
at the same time, and the Empress spoke some kind words to him on the subject 
of his experiences as a French officer during the war. 
Major Coffey retired on 16th December, 1893, and died at Yoxford, Kent, on 
20th September, 1894. 
J.C.D. 
Lieutenant R. Roper, who died at Trevandrum, India, on 28th September, 
1894, was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant, 14th February, 1890, and became 
Lieutenant, 14th February, 1893. 
Lieutenant F. Burge, who was killed by accident whilst playing polo at 
Jullundur, on 1st October, 1894, joined the Regiment as 2nd Lieutenant, 14th 
February, 1890. and became Lieutenant, 14th February, 1893. 
