Frank Hodge

Family

Frank Hodge was born in Dartmouth in 1898. He was the youngest son of John Thomas Hodge and his wife, Sarah Elizabeth Wotton.

John, who was born in Stoke Fleming, married Sarah on 3^rd June 1883 at St Saviours, Dartmouth (for some reason, the entry in the register shows her name as Sarah Susan, rather than Sarah Elizabeth). In the 1881 Census, John was working as a farm servant, at Hole Farm, Dittisham. Sarah came from Capton, near Dittisham, although at the time of the 1881 census, she was in domestic service at Higher Broadridge farm in Cornworthy.

By the time of the 1891 Census John and Sarah were living at one of the cottages at Old Mill Creek, where John had also lived as a child twenty years earlier, and quite close to Hole Farm. John now worked as a general labourer. There were four children:

• Thomas John (shown as John Thomas on the census return), born on 29^th November 1883, and baptised at St Saviours on 5^th February 1884
• Alice Maud, born 29^th November 1885, and baptised at St Saviours on 18^th May 1887
• Frederick George, born 6^th May 1888
• Annie Eveline, born 6^th March 1890

Also living with them at that time was John's younger brother Frederick George, a boatbuilder. Frederick, Annie and the newest baby, James, born on 16^th March 1892, were baptised at St Saviours on James' first birthday, 16^th March 1893.

Cottages at Old Mill Creek

The family continued to grow. William Henry was born on 17^th November 1894; Phillip on 13^th February 1896; and Mabel Lucy sometime during April 1897. Sadly, Mabel died on 11^th August 1897, aged only four months, and was buried three days later at St Clements, Townstal. Five days later, on 19^th August, William Henry and Phillip were baptised at St Saviours. By this time the family had moved into Dartmouth, to a house on Clarence Hill.

Frank was born in 1898, Margaret Louisa on 22^nd June 1899, and Edith Helena, a Christmas baby, on 27^th December 1900. The 1901 Census recorded John, Sarah, and eight children living in Clarence Hill. John was working as a "moulder's labourer" in a foundry, probably at one of Dartmouth's shipbuilding and engineering firms.

Thomas and Alice, the two eldest children, had left home, though were not far away. Thomas worked for a Baker and Confectioner, John Clarke, in Market Street. The Clarkes employed four bakers, of whom Thomas was one; a pastry cook; and a baker's assistant. All lived "above the shop", with the Clarke family. Alice Maud was in domestic service. She worked as a housemaid in a house called "Montagu", in Ridge Hill, close to Clarence Hill.

Sadly Edith died aged only 13^th months, and was buried at St Clements, Townstal on 5^th February 1902. Beatrice Mary was born only a few weeks later, on 20^th March 1902; John and Sarah's last child, Selina May, was born the following year, on 9^th June. Frank thus grew up in a crowded household with many brothers and sisters.

By the time of the 1911 Census, however, Frank, aged 12 and still at school, was the eldest of the four children remaining at home with John and Sarah in Clarence Hill. John continued to work in the foundry.

Thomas, Alice and Annie had married and had homes of their own in Dartmouth. Thomas, who continued to work as a baker, married Ada Mary Auger in 1905. He is on our database, and his story is continued here. Alice married Sydney Abraham Callard in 1910, who is also on our database. Annie married William Alan Edmonds in 1905.

Frederick joined the Navy as a Stoker II Class, reporting to HMS Vivid, the naval base at Devonport, on 9^th January 1907, and signing on for 12 years service. At the time of the 1911 Census he was serving in HMS Sentinel, leader of the 5^th Destroyer Flotilla at Chatham in the Home Fleet. James, aged 18, was nearer home, working as a horseman on a farm in Bozomzeal, near Dittisham; and William Henry, aged 16, worked as a cow boy at Woodbury Farm, Norton, just outside Dartmouth.

Service

In 1916 compulsory military service was introduced; the second Military Service Act of May 1916 made liable for military service all men aged 18-40 inclusive, single and married, although no-one would be sent abroad until he had reached the age of 19. Frank's service papers, unusually, have survived, so we know that he was called up on 19^th February 1917 at the age of 18 years 7 months. He was single, worked as a labourer, and lived with John and Sarah at Clarence Hill. His medical examination recorded that he was 5ft 7½ins tall and was of "good physical development".

The arrangements for training had been re-organised in September 1916 when the Training Reserve was set up. Infantry regiments no longer recruited locally; reserve units which had the function of training recruits for their regiments were redesignated as Training Reserve Battalions. On joining up Frank was first posted to the 35^th Training Reserve Battalion and then, on 26^th May 1917, posted to the 37^th. Both were based at Wool, Dorset. Frank's record shows that during this period he suffered from influenza, from 30^th March 1917 to 7^th April 1917, and fully recovered.

He went to France on 25^th July 1917. While still at Base Depot (unspecified) he became a member of the 210^th Graduated Battalion, when the 37^th TR Battalion was redesignated as such following a further reorganisation of Army training. Under these new arrangements, "Graduated Battalions" were for soldiers aged between 18 years and 5 months, and nineteen years. As the name implies, soldiers were posted to "Graduated" Battalions having received their initial training with a "Young Soldiers" Battalion, for specialist training until they were old enough to be drafted, though Frank may have received this designation for administrative purposes only, since he was already in France at the time.

Finally, on 15^th August 1917, he was posted to the 7^th Battalion of the King's Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment, with the number 28201. The 7^th King's Own were part of 56^th Infantry Brigade, in 19^th Division. As Frank joined them, they were in camp at Le Wast, in northern France, having come out of the line east of Oostaverne on 1^st August following the attack at the beginning of the Third Battle of Ypres on the previous day. (For the general background to this offensive, see the story of William John Farrow Bates).

The Battalion's War Diary reports for 15^th August that "Reinforcements [of] 180 other ranks [were] received" and on 17^th August, a further 46 other ranks and two officers. After doubtless much needed rest and recuperation, including organised bathing at the seaside, they were brought back to the battle area at the end of the month, arriving at Corunna Camp at Westoutre, south of Poperinghe, at the beginning of September, for continuing training and preparation for their next involvement in the continuing battle. On 7^th September, they moved a little further south, to Dranoutre and spent the next ten days providing men for working parties in various locations. They began the move forward to the front line on 18^th September, arriving at their assembly point on the night of 19^th/20^th.

On 25^th August, General Haig had transferred responsibility for planning the next stage of the offensive to General Plumer, commanding Second Army, from General Gough, commanding Fifth Army. General Plumer planned a series of "bite and hold" attacks, in four steps, each followed by a six day pause, to allow for consolidation, defence against any counter-attack, and preparation of the next step. The first step was planned for 20^th September.

The Battle of Menin Road

The 19^th Division was positioned on the extreme right of the attacking front, from the Comines Canal to Groenenburg Farm. Fortunately for Frank, the 7^th Kings Own was in reserve for the attack, which began at 5.40am. They had assembled on the north bank of the Comines Canal. They were not called upon until 11am, when C & D companies were called forward to replace the 9^th Royal Welsh Fusiliers, who had in turn moved forward to reinforce the front line. By 2pm the whole Battalion was "in close support to the 58^th Brigade, who [had] taken the whole of their objective". As this illustrates, the first stage of General Plumer's "bite and hold" approach was, broadly, a success. The 56^th Brigade, including the 7^th King's Own, took over the new front line secured by the 57^th and 58^th Brigades, on the night of 21^st/22^nd September.

After this action, the 19^th Division was not involved in any of the attacks of the later stages of the Third Battle of Ypres (for an account of these, see the stories of Edwin Burnell, Thomas Rendle, William Langworthy, John Webber, Frederick Widdicombe, Frederick Worden, Frank Grant and Charles Turner). Instead a period of trench warfare followed, in the same sector of the line. On 1^st November, two officers and 28 other ranks of B Company carried out a trench raid on a group of dug-outs, which was "a great success". Three of the seven dug-outs were occupied; they were successfully cleared, and several prisoners taken, who provided useful information about German dispositions. The Battalion sustained no casualties in the operation.

It appears that at some point during this period, Frank was wounded. His name (and number) appear among the wounded of the Kings Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) in a casualty list dated 14^th November, published by the War Office on 20^th November 1917. However, there is no record of this in his service papers, so the date, circumstances and severity are unknown.

On 10^th November, 19^th Division was relieved; by 11^th November 1917, the 7^th King's Own was "settling into billets [and] cleaning up" at Sercus in Northern France, where they remained until early December, undertaking an extensive programme of training. On 4^th December they began the journey to the Somme, where they were to join the Third Army. They arrived at Etricourt on 10^th December. The 19^th Division had taken over a section of the Flesquieres Salient, formed by the positions taken up after the Battle of Cambrai (see the stories of Samuel Love and Gordon Lake). The Divisional front ran from south of Marcoing northwesterly to east of Flesquieres; the 7^th King's Own was near Ribecourt. The atmosphere was not without tension, but the period to the end of December was uneventful. The Battalion was in the front line on Christmas Day 1917, which was:

Christmas Day was celebrated on 30^th December, when they were out of the line at Havrincourt Wood. That day an attack was launched on the front held by 63^rd Division, and 7^th King's Own was ordered to hold itself in readiness, but 63^rd Division was able to counter-attack successfully, and the Battalion was not required.

However, towards the end of January, the Battalion received a terminal shock in a major reorganisation of the BEF. Due to restrictions imposed on the Army's requirements for manpower, Divisions were reduced from twelve to nine Battalions, and many under-strength Battalions were now disbanded, so that men could be reallocated to bring other Battalions up to establishment. The War Diary records, on 25^th January 1918:

The next two weeks were spent in the processes necessary to wind up the Battalion. On 5^th February:

In the meantime, the Adjutant, Major Charles W Wingrove MC, had gone on leave, but, on hearing the news, according to the War Diary:

On arriving at Buckingham Palace, Major Wingrove and his colleague, Captain Peers, eventually were allowed entry and saw Clive Wigram, the King's Private Secretary, who promised that, if they put their case in writing, he would ensure the King received it. They sat down to write the letter there and then, apparently with Wigram's help, and he duly submitted the letter to the King. A letter was then sent from the Palace to Lord Derby and Clive Wigram also spoke to him. But, perhaps inevitably, the appeal fell on stony ground. On 11^th February 1918 Clive Wigram wrote to Charles Wingrove:

In any case, by this date the Battalion had already effectively disappeared. The "last day" was 6^th February, when the men left in lorries, in two drafts:

Thirty surplus NCOs and WOs, plus Battalion HQ, were left to deal with the final administration. Frank was one of the 205 posted to the 1/4^th King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, on 7^th February 1918.

1/4^th King's Own

The 1/4^th King's Own were a Territorial Force unit of the Royal Lancaster Regiment. They had first arrived in France in May 1915 as part of 51^st Division; at the beginning of 1916 they joined 164^th Brigade of 55^th Division. In early February 1918 they were on their way to the Givenchy-Festubert sector.

On 8^th February, they were marching from Busnettes to Houchin, through Bethune, when they were "joined en route by 6 officers and 194 ORs of the 7^th R Lanc R who had been posted to this Battalion when the 7^th R Lanc R were disbanded". They camped at Houchin the following day. Frank's first few days with his new Battalion involved company training, interspersed with football matches, tug of war events, and a YMCA concert party, before moving into the line around the ruined village of Givenchy on Valentine's Day.

Much time was spent repairing and improving the defences. Here too the new system of "defence in depth" was implemented (see the story of Reginald Drake) but unlike the Somme area, the line here already had many of the required features to convert the existing system; and (according to Peter Hart) "by now there was a greater understanding … of the new defensive tactics …".

In general, things were quiet. On 21^st March, as the Germans launched the first of their major offensives, to the south in the Somme sector, the War Diary reported:

On 26^th March, the War Diary recorded that some prisoners taken by 1/5^th the Kings (Liverpool) Regiment during a raid had stated that an attack was "imminent". On 27^th March there were "more rumours of attack", but these were "entirely without foundation".

The Battle for Flanders: the Lys Offensive 1918: the Battle of Givenchy-Festubert

On 1^st April 1918, after a short rest, they were back in the line. A few days later, Frank found himself in the path of the second phase of the German spring offensive. Peter Hart summarises the strategic setting:

The 55^th Division, including the 1/4^th King's Own, was one of the few divisions holding the line in this sector which had not already been involved in the March fighting. They were positioned at the southernmost end of the attack. It would appear from the Battalion's War Diary that, other than the rumours described above, there was no immediate warning of the attack. Indeed, the day before the attack, 8^th April, was the quietest they had experienced for some time.

The War Diary includes a clear and detailed report on the action of 9^th April and "following days" prepared in 1931 by Lt Col R Gardner, from which these extracts are taken:

Elsewhere, however, the Germans had broken through and achieved a gain of up to 5½ miles; but, the incursion had been held, as Peter Hart says, "aided greatly by the heroic resistance of the 55^th Division".

Death

On 11^th April 1918, General Haig issued a special order of the day:

But for Frank the fighting was already over. His service record states that he was killed in action on 9^th April. There is no clue as to his exact position or role in the battle. The battalion's casualties for that day, recorded in the War Diary at the end of the month, were:

Although his name died not appear in the daily casualty lists until 1^st June 1918, news of his death reached home much sooner. A short notice appeared in the Dartmouth Chronicle on 3^rd May 1918:

He was nineteen.

Commemoration

It would appear that Frank's body was never found, or never identified. He is commemorated on a panel of the Loos Memorial, one of 20,000 officers and men who have no known grave, who fell "in the area from the River Lys to the old southern boundary of the First Army, east and west of Grenay, from the first day of the Battle of Loos to the end of the war" (CWGC).

He is commemorated in Dartmouth on the Town War Memorial and the St Saviours Memorial Board, along with his eldest brother, Thomas Hodge.

Sources

Service papers for Frank Hodge included in collection "British Army Service Records", series WO 363 - First World War Service Records "Burnt Documents", accessed through subscription website Findmypast.

Information on the Training Reserve from the Long Long Trail website

War Diary of the 7^th Battalion King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) July 1915 - February 1918 available at the National Archives, fee payable for download, reference WO 95/2078/1

War Diary of the 1/4^th Battalion King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) July 1917 - April 1919 available at the National Archives, fee payable for download, reference WO 95/2922/2 and WO 95/2922/4

The Nineteenth Division 1914-1918, by Everard Wyrall, republished 2012, Naval & Military Press

The King's Own Royal Regiment Museum:

• 7^th Battalion, including action taken by Charles Wingrove
• 1^st/4^th Battalion

1918, A Very British Victory, by Peter Hart, pub Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London, 2009

Information Held on Database

Surname:	Hodge
Forenames:	Frank
Rank:	Private
Service Number:	28201
Military Unit:	1/4th Bn King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment
Date of Death:	09 Apr 1918
Age at Death:	19
Cause of Death:	Killed in action
Action Resulting in Death:	Battle of the Lys
Place of Death:	Near Givenchy, France
Place of Burial:	Commemorated Loos Memorial, France
Born or Lived in Dartmouth?	Yes
On Dartmouth War Memorial?	Yes
On St Saviour's Memorials?	Yes
On St Petrox Memorials?	No
On Flavel Church Memorials?	No
In Longcross Cemetery?	No
In St Clement's Churchyard?	No
On a Private Memorial?	No
On Another Memorial?	No

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