Military History

Theatre of War	Medals	Commonwealth War Grave or Memorial
France and Flanders	1914-15 Star, British War & Victory Medals	Loos Memorial
Arrived in Theatre	Medal Citation (if app)	SWFHS Area Memorials
26 Jul 1915	~	Tysoe & Compton Wyngates (Church only)
Action, Battle or Other Reason Killed	Date and Place Enlisted	Other War Memorials
Battle of Loos	12 Aug 1914 at Exeter	King's School, Canterbury
		Morthoe, Devon
Place of Death	Previous Regiments or Units	Pembroke College, Oxford
near Vermelles	~

Military History

• Commissioned to 2nd Lt on 21 Aug 1914
• Promoted to Lt on 5 Feb 1915

Circumstances Leading to Death (Normally from War Diary)           

The 25th of September 1915 was the opening day of the Battle of Loos and the 8th Battalion found themselves in trenches near Vermelles in front of the German position of Breslau Trench which was their first objective that day. A new front line trench had been dug and C Company occupied them with A and D Companies in support in the old front line. There was some shelling of the German positions overnight but at 5.30am on the morning of the 25th a deluge of fire fell on them. There was some response from the German artillery which caused casualties in the densely packed Devonshire's trenches. Then gas and smoke were released from the British trenches and, although all went well at first, the wind changed and the men suffered from the effects despite their newly issued gas helmets.

Zero hour was set for 6.30am but D Company must have started their advance before that as the three front companies were level with each other and advanced together across no man's land. Because of this there was much bunching at the gaps in the British wire and losses were heavy as the Germans opened fire with rifle and machine gun fire. The battalion crossed and took Breslau Trench in only 12 minutes with Kenneth Dodgson being one of the few officers who made it to the objective but he was overwhelmed by chlorine gas in Breslau Trench and his body was not recovered.

The above courtesy of King's School, Canterbury website.