The stories of two lads
THROUGHOUT the centenary of the First World War, we have been remembering the soldiers from the Loughborough area who lost their lives while serving their country.
Here, with the help of Marigold Cleeve and a small number of researchers from the Loughborough Carillon Tower and War Memorial Museum, we look back at more of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in June 1917.
Arthur Dunn was born in 1893 in Loughborough. He was the son of Thomas Dunn and his second wife Mary (née Martin) who were married at Emmanuel Church, Loughborough, on 14th April 1888.
Thomas and Mary Dunn firstly lived in Woodgate, Loughborough, then at 43 Pinfold Gate, and Thomas was a labourer at Cotton’s Iron Works.
Arthur had two brothers Herbert and Frederick and one sister Mary Jane. By 1911 the Dunn family had moved to 17 King Street and Arthur, now 18, was a hosiery hand for a hosiery manufacturers.
Arthur enlisted at Loughborough in September 1914 and joined the 8th (Service) Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment as Private 13058. From the Depot he was sent firstly to Aldershot for training and then to Shorncliffe, Kent, in February 1915.
In April 1915 Arthur’s battalion became part of the newly established 37th Division of Kitchener’s 2nd New Army and the Division began to concentrate on Salisbury Plain.
On 25th June the units were inspected by King George V at Sidbury Hill.
On 22nd July the Division began to cross the English Channel and Ernest travelled to France on 29th July 1915. Initially the 37th Division concentrated near Tilques.
The 8th Battalion then moved to Wulverghem and Berles-au-Bois, a short distance from the front line.
In the months that followed the 8th Battalion did tours in the trenches, alternating with the 6th Leicesters who relieved them. They were Involved in operations in Bailleul, Le Bizet, Armentières, Mondicourt, Beauval and Berles-au-Bois. In February 1916 John came home on a short furlough. In April 1916 Arthur moved with the 8th Leicesters to the Doullens area for six weeks cleaning up, resting and training. In mid-May the battalion returned once more to the trenches in the Bienvillers-Bailleulmont sector, but nearer Gommecourt.
In June there were nightly excursions into No-Man’s Land attempting to gather information on the enemy’s dispositions and daily working parties to repair the British barbed wire entanglements.
The situation became increasingly hazardous as the month wore on when the Germans began to use a new and more accurate type of trench mortar. The 8th Battalion did not participate in the first days of the Somme Offensive but was held in reserve. at Humbercamps, Talmas, and Soues. On 10th July the battalion marched to Aill y-s ur-Somme, entrained for Méricourt and travelled from there by lorry to bivouacs in Méaulte.
Between 10th and 13th July the battalion was in the trenches near Fricourt and subjected to fairly continuous enemy fire. On the 14th July the battalion was in action at the Battle of Bazentin Ridge. After the battle the battalion withdrew to Ribemont and then to Méricourt, and having entrained for Saleux, marched to Soues.
At the end of July the battalion moved by train and on foot to St.-Quentin-Lattre and went into the trenches at Arras until 2nd September with rest breaks at Agnez-lesOuisans.
After this there was training at Lignereuil until 13th September when the battalion marched to Frevent and entrained for Dernancourt. On 15th they reached a point between Fricourt and Méaulte before proceeding to Trônes Wood on 16 th. From 17th-23rd September the battalion was in reserve and supporting the troops in the front line by providing carrying parties.
In the evening of 24th September the battalion took up battle positions and on the following day, the start of the Battle of Morval, launched a successful attack on the right of Flers and then pressed on to Gueudecourt, Considerable losses, however, were suffered in this action.
After Morval the battalion withdrew to Dernancourt, entrained for Longpré and marched to Pont Remy before transferring to the Hohenzollern Reserve, support and frontline trenches.
The battalion remained in the Hohenzollern sector, with breaks at Mazingarbe and Vermelles until 15th December when they marched to billets in the candle factory at Béthune. From there the battalion moved to Auchel where they remained until 26th January 1917 training. On 28th December the troops were entertained by a Lena Ashwell concert party.
From Auchel the men moved to Winnezeele to continue training in tactical manoeuvres before returning to Béthune and the front line trenches at Sailly Labourse.
In April 1917 the battalion moved to Hamelincourt and occupied the Outpost Line on the Hénin-Croisilles road until 13th April, then transferred to Bailleulmont for training before going into support at St. Leger.
On 3rd May the battalion took part in an attack on the village of Fontainelès-Croisilles where casualties were high.
At this point Arthur appears to have been taken a prisoner of war by the Germans.
He died in Germany on 7th June 1917, aged 23. He was buried in Cologne Southern Cemetery.
His mother received a letter from Pte. G. Vickers of the Royal Scots, which said: ‘I beg to offer you the deepest sympathy of myself and all the English in the camp.
“Having been a Church of England missioner in England I conducted the funeral service.
“You can rest assured that he was laid to rest with the full blessing of the Church. The service was attended by non-coms, and men, and was touching in its reverence and simplicity.
“I need say no more except that he died like a true soldier and English Gentleman’.
Arthur’s brother Herbert served with the Lincolnshire Regiment but was discharged in 1915 as medically unfit.
Alfred Beck.
Alfred Beck was born in Loughborough in 1891 and baptised at Emmanuel Church on 21st December 1894.
He was the son of Arthur Beck and his wife Mary (née Peel, afterwards Ste- phens) who were married on 18th November 1890 at Emmanuel Church.
Alfred’s father was a bricklayer’s labourer. Alfred’s mother was the widow of George Wake Stephens when she married Arthur Beck and she already had four sons Arthur, Frank, Oliver and William Stephens, halfbrothers to Alfred.
Alfred had one full sibling Mary Beck. From 1901 to 1911 the Beck/Stephens family lived at 8 New Street, Loughborough and by 1911 Alfred, aged 19, was a tilemaker at Tucker’s brickyard.
Alfred enlisted in August 1915 and joined the 1/5th Leicestershire Regiment as Private 4625. He was later re-numbered as Private 241691 and sent to France sometime in 1916 or 1917. His service papers have unfortunately not survived.
In mid-February 1916 the 1/5th battalion took over the line north of the River Ancre opposite Beaumont-Hamel in France. On 29th February the battalion moved to the area of Doullens where the men worked on improving the trenches despite being subjected to a considerable bombardment from the enemy with mines and craters being blown.
From 9th March 1916 the 1/5th Leicesters were in the area of Vimy Ridge, Pas de Calais, either in the front line, in support, in reserve or at rest.
On 27th April the battalion was sent to the neighbourhood of Neuville St. Vaast to work with the French and English tunnellers and then to billets in Luchaux for bayonet training.
This was followed by a period at Souastre digging cable trenches, and constructing bomb stores and gun pits in preparation for a ‘big push’. On 4th June 1916 the battalion was moved up to trenches near Gommecourt.
This was followed by further training at Warlincourt. On 30th June the battalion assembled in a trench near Foncquevillers Church ready for the diversionary attack at Gommecourt on the first day of the Somme Offensive planned for 1st July. On 1st July 1916 the 46th Division of the Army, of which the 1/5th Leicesters were part, had 2445 casualties at Gommecourt. On 7th July they relieved the 4th Lincolnshires in the trenches opposite Essartslès-Bucquoy.
The battalion remained in the area of Monchy-auBois until 29th October, either in the trenches or resting at Bienvillers or Pommier.
The battalion’s next move was to Millencourt for intensive battle training, returning to Halloy and then Souastre at the beginning of December.
The battalion remained at Souastre until 11th March 1917 and then moved once more up to the line taking over 2,600 yards of frontage from the La Brayelle road to the Hannescamps- Monchy road.
On 17th March they moved into Gommecourt for road mending before moving to Bertrancourt, Raincheval and then Rainvillers not far from Amiens.
On 28th March the battalion marched to Saleux, entrained for Lillers in the north, and marched to Laires. Training took place until 13th April and continued for three further days at Manqueville, after which the battalion moved to the western outskirts of Lens. From there they marched to Bully-Grenay and went into the front line trenches where they were heavily shelled.
On 29th April the battalion went into rest billets in cellars at Cité St. Pierre until 3rd May when they went into support trenches. On 8th they went into billets at Fosse 10 near Petit Sains for training and on 12th into reserve at Angres.
Further trench tours south-west of Lens followed until 26th May when the battalion went into billets at Marqueffles Farm for training in bayonet fighting and bombardment and to practise methods of attack.
On 6th June the battalion was back in the line and on 8th June went into the attack, suffering 96 casualties.
It is not known exactly when Alfred was taken a prisoner of war by the Germans, but he was listed as a prisoner of war by the Red Cross. He died on or after 8th June 1917, aged 25, and is commemorated on the Arras memorial Bay 5, and on the memorial in Emmanuel Church, Loughborough, as well as on the Carillon.