Arthur Harry Dale

A Private with 1st Bn., Arthur died on 28th of May 1915 at the age of 20. 

Arthur was born at Lowestoft on 4 May 1895, a son of William and Eliza Dale. In 1901 his family lived at Pope’s Farm House, Norwich Road, Lowestoft. Later his parents lived at 2 Norfolk Street, Lowestoft. 

Arthur volunteered and enlisted in the Army at Lowestoft. He joined the Suffolk Regiment, service number 16532. He was posted to the 1st Battalion and arrived in France on 1 April 1915.

Before dawn on 8 May, the men of the 1st Battalion were warned of an imminent attack, and added that the CO expected the Battalion to yield no ground, and to stand to the last. The German assault began at 10 am with a ferocious artillery attack: poison gas was also used against the British troops. All communication lines were cut, and the only routes for reinforcements were through Ypres which was in flames.

In the 1st Battalion the Commanding Officer, Battalion Adjutant, and Regimental Sergeant Major all became casualties, and the battalion headquarters was destroyed. The Battalion held their ground, but, by noon, the Battalion had been completely overwhelmed. The total number of casualties on 8 May amounted to over 400. Only one officer and 29 men returned from the battle. The Battalion had sustained near 1,000 casualties in the six weeks since the start of the Battle of Ypres. 

Arthur was taken prisoner at Ypres on 8 May 1915. He had been shot in the shoulder and it seems that this had become infected, which led to his death. He died of his wounds at the prisoner of war hospital Dortmund (Bruderkrankhaus) and was buried at a cemetery in south-east Dortmund. After the war, when all British war graves were concentrated in a small number of cemeteries, he was reburied at Cologne. 

See: Prisoners of the First World War | International Committee of the Red Cross - Specify your search criteria (icrc.org) especially R 10275.