Valentine Fleming

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Major Valentine Fleming, DSO (circa 1887 – May 20, 1917) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament who was killed in World War I.

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.

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.

War Years

In 1914, Valentine joined the Oxfordshire Yeomanry, rising to the rank of Major.

During World War I, he wrote to close friend Winston Churchill in 1914. The following is an excerpt:

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.

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.

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