BORN 1896. SON OF GEORGE DAWSON (1857-1932) AND MARY JANE WOOD (1859-1929), OF 14 PARAGON PLACE, SYKES STREET, HULL (1911 CENSUS) AND 2 JARVIS SQUARE, CHARLOTTE STREET, HULL (ARMY RECORDS ADDRESS). HE HAD FIVE BROTHERS (GEORGE EMIGRATED TO MIAMI, USA, AND WALTER EMIGRATED TO ALBERTA, CANADA) AND TWO SISTERS, BERTHA AND EMILY. A CLERK.
HE ENLISTED INTO THE HULL COMMERCIALS, ON 01/09/1914. DESCRIBED AS 5 FOOT, 9 INCHES TALL, 36 INCH CHEST, & 130 LBS WEIGHT, ARTIFICIAL DENTURES (9 TEETH). DURING TRAINING IN RIPON, HE WAS CHARGED FOR BEING LATE FOR PARADE SIX TIMES, AND FOR IRREGULAR BEHAVIOUR IN THE BARRACK ROOM (DISCHARGING A FIRE EXTINGUISHER). ON 23/01/1916 HE WAS TRIED BY FIELD COURT MARTIAL FOR STEALING PUBLIC GOODS AND SENTENCED TO 3 MONTHS FIELD PUNISHMENT NO:1.
HE SERVED IN EGYPT AND FRANCE WITH THE 10TH EAST YORKSHIRE REGIMENT. WOUNDED IN THE BACK, IN ACTION, ON 25/06/1916. PROMOTED TO LANCE CORPORAL, ON 07/10/1916, CORPORAL, ON 17/12/1916 AND LANCE SERGEANT, ON 28/03/1917. HE WAS KILLED AT OPPY WOOD, ON 03/05/1917, AGED 27. HE HAD SERVED IN THE ARMY FOR 1 YEAR AND 245 DAYS. UNMARRIED. HIS ARMY EFFECTS WERE LEFT TO HIS FATHER GEORGE, AT 119, COUNCIL AVENUE, GUPSYVILLE, HULL (WAR PENSION ADDRESS).
HE IS COMMEMORATED ON THE ARRAS MEMORIAL TO THE MISSING. HE IS LISTED TOGETHER WITH HAROLD DAWSON, IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL.
The attack on Oppy Wood, part of the Battle of Arras, was a significant battle for the East Yorkshire Regiment and particularly for the city of Hull. All four Hull Pals battalions were involved on 3 May and all suffered heavy casualties, with 40% of those present killed or injured. 2nd Lieutenant Jack Harrison, a local teacher and rugby player with Hull FC, won a posthumous Victoria Cross for his bravery in rushing a machine gun position to protect his platoon. His body was never found.
The village of Oppy in France had been in German hands since October 1914 and was part of a formidable defensive system including trenches, dug-outs and thick barbed wire defences. During the Battle of Arras, which began in April 1917, the British tried to take Oppy. The first attack was a failure. A second attack was partially successful. The third attack on 3 May, known officially as the Third Battle of the Scarpe, was again unsuccessful with significant loss of life. The troops were ordered to attack at 3.45am, rather than at dawn, and the defending Germans could easily see the line of British soldiers clearly lit by the full moon. The British continued to attack Oppy and were finally successful the following year. The City of Hull Memorial at Oppy was unveiled in 1927 and commemorates the men of the Hull Pals who were killed on 3 and 4 May 1917.
