Ernest John Dodd was born on 26 May 1892, the only child of John Henry Dodd (1851-1917) and Emma Eliza Dodd née Hewins (1858-1944). His birth was registered in the 2nd quarter of 1892 in the St George Hanover Square registration district, London. On 2 July 1892 he was baptised at St Paul's Knightsbridge Church, 32a Wilton Place, London, SW1, where in the baptismal register his family were shown as living at 30 Wilton Crescent Mews, London, SW1 (later renamed as Wilton Row). His father was described as a coachman.
In the 1901 census he is shown as aged 8 years and living in East Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, with his parents, who were shown as a laundryman and a laundress, together with a female laundress servant.
When his 1911 census return form was completed by his father, he was shown as aged 18 years, a surveyor's articled pupil, living with his parents in a 5 roomed property in Queens Road, East Common, Harpenden, together with the same female laundress servant who was shown in the 1901 census. His father described himself as a laundry proprietor.
He was an amateur player for Luton Town Football Club and also Hertfordshire County Cricket Club.
The London Gazette shows that he obtained a commission as a Temporary Second Lieutenant on 26 June 1915 in the Royal Field Artillery. Having been promoted to Lieutenant he was serving in their "C" Battery, 177th Brigade, when he was killed in action near the Menin Gate, Ypres (now called Ieper), Belgium, aged 25 years, on 17 July 1917. His body was buried in Plot 1, Row M, Grave 30 in the Brandhoek Military Cemetery, 22, Grote Branderstraat 14, 8908 Ieper, Belgium.
Probate records confirm his address to have been East Common, Harpenden, and that on 29 September 1917 administration with a will was granted to his widowed mother. His effects totalled £415-17s-7d. His mother was also sent his army effects totalling £117-17s-7d on 2 January 1918 and his £5-0s-0d war gratuity on 3 November 1919. He was posthumously awarded the British War Medal 1914-1918 and the Victory Medal.
He is shown as 'ERNEST JOHN DODD' on the Highgate Camp plaque at 107 Swains Lane, London, N6. He is also shown as 'DODD E.J. LT. R.F.A.' on the Harpenden War Memorial, at Church Green junction with High Street, Harpenden and as 'Dodd, Ernest, J. Lieut. R.F.A.' on the Roll of Honour housed in St Nicholas' Church, Church Green, Harpenden, AL5 2TP.
He is also commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website, on the Imperial War Museum's Lives of the First World War website and on the A Street Near You website.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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