8514 Pte Tom Dix, 2nd Bn, Dorsetshire Regt

8514 Private Tom Dix of the 2nd Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment died of wounds in Mesopotamia on the 19th November 1914. He was 25 years old, the son of Edith Jessie Dix of 3 Victoria Cottage, North Road, Parkstone, Dorset, and the late Thomas Dix. He is buried in the Basra War Cemetery in Iraq.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Capt Archibald B Priestley, 1st Bn, Dorset Regt

Captain Archibald Bertram Priestley of the 1st Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment died of wounds on the 12th September 1914. He had certainly served with the Dorsets since at least 1911 as he appears on the 1911 census with his regiment in Dorchester. He is noted as a 28 year-old lieutenant; single and born in London.

Captain Priestley's medal index card notes that he arrived in France on the 22nd August 1914. He was married by this stage and his widow would later (November 1917) apply for his 1914 Star. Three addresses are given on the reverse of the medal index card. The first of these is 7 Nelson Gardens, Stoke, Devonport. Mrs Priestley's address is noted as Cowslip Cottage, Mickleham, Surrey, and the medals were finally sent to 26 Edith Road, West Kensington, London W14. Archibald Priestley is one of 31 Commonwealth casualties buried in Coulommiers Communal Cemetery.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

3/6979 Cpl Jack Buttle, 1st Bn, Dorsetshire Regt

3/6979 Corporal Jack Buttle of the 1st Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment, was killed in action on the 4th May 1915. He was born in Leyton (now east London, then Essex) and was living there when he enlisted. He joined up at nearby Stratford.

Jack was 18 years and five months old when he enlisted with the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment on the 23rd October 1913. His attestation papers state that he was working as a casual labourer. He joined the regiment at Dorchester on the 2nd November 1913 and then underwent four months' training which ended on the 27th February 1914.

Jack presumably then returned to Leyton but was mobilized on the 8th August 1914. He was appointed unpaid lance-corporal four days later, and paid corporal exactly on month later. On the 23rd October 1914 he was posted to the 1st Battalion but still retained his 3rd Battalion number. He served overseas in France and Belgium from October 1914 until the time of his death which was due to the effects of poison gas. In his history of the battalion, Major C H Dudley-Ward DSO MC, writes that on the 1st May 1915, the enemy attacked the Dorsetshire positions on Hill 60 with poison gas and that C Company, on the crest of the hill, was particularly affected. Over 200 casualties were recorded. The battalion was relieved the following day and moved back into local reserve at Larch Wood.

Jack's service record notes that he had previously been admitted to the 15th Field Ambulance at Bailleul on the 15th February 1915, suffering from the effects of cold. He rejoined his battalion the same day.

The Commonwealth War Graves records that "John" Buttle was the son of William and Thirza Buttle of 4 Stanley Road, Leyton, London, and that he is buried in Perth Cemetery (China Wall).

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry (MIC, WO 363)
Soldiers Died in The Great War
Army Service Numbers
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission

3/7710 Pte Alfred Samuel Hordle, 1st Bn, Dorsetshire Regt

I was travelling yesterday and therefore had no opportunity to update this blog.

3/7710 Private Alfred Samuel Hordle of the 1st Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment, was killed in action on the 25th November 1914. His number indicates that he joined the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battlion of the Dorsetshire Regiment and this is confirmed by his partial service record which survives in the WO 363 series at the National Archives.

Alfred joined the 3rd Battalion on the 21st August 1914. He was 36 years old, was a serving member of the National Reserve and already had prior service with the 3rd Battalion. He was a married man and was living in Poole, Dorset. Alfred was five feet five inches tall, had a fresh complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair.

Alfred's wife is recorded as Ellen Isabella Hordle although by the time Alfred's British War and Victory medals were sent to her in 1921, she had re-married and her surname was Foot. This information is also included on Alfred's entry in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's register. Ellen had previously received his 1914 Star (in 1919 when she was still Ellen Hordle) and also, in April 1915, Princess Mary's gift to the troops. Read about the history of the Princess Mary tin here.

Alfred was posted to the 1st Battalion on the 23rd October 1914 sailed for France the same day. He was killed just over a month later. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Menin Gate at Ypres.

When Ellen Hordle lost her husband she also lost her income and Alfred's surviving papers bear testimony to the obvious hardships that she suffered. There is a note in his files dated June 1915 which states that she was in distressed circumstances, and a later appeal, undated and subsequently fire-damaged which gives a little more detail. It states that Ellen (aged 39) was receiving a pension of ten shillings a week, that she was crippled and also extremely deaf and therefore unable to earn a living for herself. The recommendation, signed by the recruiting officer at Poole, was that she should be receiving a pension of at least one pound per week and that her lameness was likely to get worse rather than better. There is no record on file as to whether Ellen Hordle's appeal was successful.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in The Great War

7990 Pte William Himmons, 1st Bn, Dorsetshire Regiment

7990 Pte William Himmons of the 1st Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment died of wounds on 3rd September 1914. William was a career soldier who had enlisted on 18th July 1906 at Winchester for nine years with the colours and three on the reserve. He was born at Thatcham, near Newbury in Berkshire and was living at Newbury at the time of his enlistment. He was 19 years and six months old and had been working as a labourer.

William's service record survives as a burnt document at the National Archives and from it we can see that at the time of his enlistment he was nearly five feet ten and a half inches tall, had a dark complexion, blue eyes and dark hair. "Church of England" was the religion noted for him.

William's record is quite badly damaged and a lot of papers appear to have been lost. However, we can see that he remained at the regimental depot until 8th December 1906 and was then posted to the 1st Battalion. There are a few entries on his regimental defaulter sheet, which though minor, at least place him in definite locations at various times during his early military career. On 26th August 1908 he was absent from the tattoo at Bulford Camp and didn't show up again until the 31st of August. On 29th June 1910 whilst the battalion was at Portsmouth, he overstayed his leave by 23 hours and also missed the parade as a result. He was awarded ten days confined to barracks as a punishment, a sentence that today seems extremely harsh. On 22nd November the same year, William was awarded a further ten days confined to barracks for "improper conduct in town". That was at Blackdown.

William was transferred to the army reserve on 30th June 1911 having served just under five years with the colours. It is not clear from his record why he was transferred on this date as by rights he should have remained with the colours until 1915. Nevertheless, he was recalled when war was declared and by 16th August 1914 he was in France with his regiment.

William's papers note on 28th August 1914 that he was "missing from battalion since 24/8/14" that he was a prisoner of war and that he had been admitted to a hospital in Mons. The hospital's name is incomplete (due to water damage to his papers) but appears to start with the words Comite de. There is a further note that he died in the same hospital on 3rd September 1914. This goes against information elsewhere on his papers that state he was killed in action at Warnes near Mons.

The image at the top of this post shows just how badly damaged William's papers are and it appears from it that there was a degree of uncertainty about his fate. Nevertheless, by 31st July 1915 the War Office was sufficiently confident to write that, "the unofficial report of the death of this soldier on 3rd September 1914 has been accepted as sufficient evidence for official purposes. Will you please notify the next of kin accordingly and prepare the usual papers."

William's next of kin was his widow, Florence Himmons (nee Gore) whom he had married at Newbury on the 5th October 1912. The couple had one child, a boy (name unclear from the service papers) who had been born on 1st April 1914 and who therefore never really knew his father. At the time of his enlistment, William had recorded his next of kin as his father (William), mother (Ellen) and brother (Harry), all living at 11 Adeys Building, York Road, Newbury.

Later, Florence would marry a Mr F Champ and there is a letter from him in William's file which he wrote to the military record office in Exeter in November 1921 enquiring whether Florence was entitled to the "death plate". There is no evident reply, but she would of course have been entitled to receive the memorial plaque, and there are signed acknowledgements from her for William's medals and the clasp for his 1914 Star.

William is buried in Hautrage Military Cemetery; grave reference I.A.10. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission states that, "the village of Hautrage was in German hands during almost the whole of the First World War. The military cemetery was begun by the Germans in August and September 1914, and in the summer of 1918 they brought into it a large number of British graves of 1914, mostly of the 2nd Cavalry and 5th Infantry Divisions, from the surrounding battlefields and local cemeteries."

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC, WO 363 Service Record)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission