On November 27th, 1917 at the Battle of Cambrai in Bourlon Wood, Cecil and Philip were hit by a German shell, seriously wounding both. The regiment had been under attack all day without receiving instruction. On their left side they fought uncovered while on their right they fought alongside the Irish Guard. The ceaseless attack of shells led their major to leave the safety of the trenches and walk in the battlefield in hopes of inspiring the men to keep fighting. When the major was hit by a shell, Cecil and Philip left the trenches to bring him back to safety, but a shell exploded between them, injuring them both. Philip was sent to recover at Fishmonger Hall, which was set up as a temporary hospital. Cecil died two days after the attack, at the age of thirty, due to the injuries he received.

(Glendinning, Victoria. Leonard Woolf. London: Simon & Schuster, 2006.)