John Ardkeen Savage was killed on 17 September 1914 near Troyon, France, during one of the most infamous incidents in the history of the Northamptonshire Regiment which subsequently became known as the “White Flag Incident”.

Born on 16 September 1883 in Chatham, Kent, John was the elder son of the Revd Francis Forbes Savage and Mrs Ethel Margaret Savage of Flushing Vicarage, Falmouth, Cornwall.  He came from a long line of military men, including his grandfather, John Morris Savage, who was killed during the Crimean campaign.

John was admitted to St John’s School, Leatherhead, Surrey as a Supplementary Foundationer in September 1895, leaving in 1899.  He attended Kelly College from January to December 1900, boarding in School House.

On leaving the School, John was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion, the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment) and served in the South African War, 1900 – 1901.    He took part in operations in Cape Colony between December 1900 and June 1901 and was awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal with four clasps. At the time he was believed to be the youngest officer at the front.

John was promoted to Lieutenant on 4 February 1902; appointed as a Local captain (whilst retaining his substantive role) on 11 May 1902 before transferring, on 22 November 1902, from the 3rd Battalion, the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment) as a Lieutenant to be a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Regiment upon the Regiment’s re-organisation.  He was promoted to Lieutenant on 30 May 1904.

 On 8 July 1905, following the disbandment of the Royal Garrison Regiment, John transferred to the 1st Battalion, the Northamptonshire Regiment, which at that time was stationed at Fyzabad in India.

John was seconded for service under the Colonial Office on 30 June 1909, serving in the Gambia and South Nigeria.  He was granted the local rank of Captain from 5 July 1912 whilst serving with the Royal West African Frontier Force, a multi-battalion field-force formed in 1900 to garrison and control British colonies in West Africa. John was promoted to Captain in the Northamptonshire Regiment in September 1912 before being restored to its establishment on 20 November 1913.

Just a fortnight after the outbreak of the First World War, on 13 August 1914, John embarked for France with the 1st Battalion, the Northamptonshire Regiment as part of the British Expeditionary Force and took part in the advance to, and retreat from, Mons and the Battle of the Marne.  He was killed during the Battle of the Aisne on 17 September 1914, aged 31, “by treachery while taking prisoners who had surrendered under the white flag”.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in Volume 1 of The British Campaign in France and Flanders 1914, wrote:

This one incident upon the 17th stands out in the somewhat monotonous record of trench attacks.   On the extreme right of the British line a company of the 1st Northamptons occupied a most exposed position on the edge of the Chemin-des-dames. The men in a German trench which was some hundreds of yards in front hoisted a white flag and then advanced upon the British lines. It is well to be charitable in all these white flag incidents, since it is always possible on either side that unauthorised men may hoist it and the officer in command very properly refuse to recognise it; but in this case the deception appears to have been a deliberate one. These are the facts. On seeing the flag, Captain Savage, of B Company Northamptons, got out of the trench and with Lieutenant Dimmer, of the Rifles, advanced to the Germans. He threw down his sword and revolver to show that he was unarmed. He found a difficulty in getting a direct answer from the Germans, so he saluted their officer, who returned his salute, and turned back to walk to his own trench. Dimmer, looking back, saw the Germans level their rifles, so he threw himself down, crying out, "For God's sake get down." Captain Savage stood erect and was riddled with bullets. Many of the Northamptons, including Lieutenant Gordon, were shot down by the same volley. The Germans then attempted an advance, which was stopped by the machine-guns of the 1st Queen's. Such deplorable actions must always destroy all the amenities of civilised warfare.

John’s body was recovered and buried but over the course of the war, the grave was lost.  He is commemorated on the La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre Memorial, Seine et Marne, France, the War Memorial on Flushing Quay and in the Parish Church at Flushing.

A sergeant in his company wrote: “You must understand, sir, he was not only my master but also a friend, whose loss I can never replace.  I often try to think of him in his quarters at Blackdown, and his mode of living, for, if ever God made a gentleman, the Hon. Jack, as we always called him, was one.”

Sources: 

Captain John Ardkeen Savage, St John’s Leatherhead At War, available at: Filename.ashx [accessed 24 September 2026].

Cornwall’s War History Remembered, Cornwall Family History Society, available at: Flushing – Cornwall War History [accessed 24 September 2026].

John Ardkeen Savage, Every One Remembered, available at: Every One Remembered - Soldier Profile Captain John ardkeen Savage [accessed 24 September 2026].

Kelly College Register of Admissions

Kelly College School Register 1877 – 1927, p. 161.

Life story: John Ardkeen Savage | Lives of the First World War, IWM Lives of the First World War [accessed 24 September 2026].

Record of Service of Old Kelleians in the Great War, printed for private circulation in 1921.

The Project Gutenberg ebook of The British Campaign in Fance and Flanders, 1914, available at:  The Project Gutenberg eBook of The British Campaign in France and Flanders 1914, by Arthur Conan Doyle [accessed 25 September 2026].

The Kelly College Chronicle, Vol.6., No. 8, p.72.