WW1. BWM & Victory medal. Dolton. Bedfordshire Regiment. KIA

PRIVATE HORACE DOLTONDied 23rd April 1917

No. 33621 of the Bedfordshire Regiment, 1st Battalion.

Born: Woburn

Resided: Woburn Sands

Enlisted: Early January, 1916 at BedfordHorace’s parents were Andrew and Elizabeth. Possibly formerly in the Bedfordshire Yeomanry, no. 2459.The 1st Bedfords had arrived at Vimy Ridge on April 13th. An attack began at 4.45am on 23rd April, when the regiment advanced behind a creeping barrage from their own guns, as the Battalion assaulted La Coulotte during the Battle of Arras. However the barbed wire was left intact, and progress was also slowed by concrete emplacements and heavy machine gun fire. After 10 hours the attack was called off. In all, 11 officers and 320 other ranks were killed in this action.He appears on the Woburn Sands Memorial, the Methodist Memorial, and is listed on the Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France. He is also mentioned on his mothers memorial stone in St. Michael’s churchyard, but this mistakenly records the year as 1916. His army service papers have not survived.

A possible brother, 2nd Corp.. G..H. Dolton, of the Royal Engineers survived the war, and lived in Vicarage Street.

Some details kindly provided by Steve Fuller, “The Bedfordshire Regiment in the Great War”, at www.bedfordregiment.org.uk

These medals are as issued in their boxes (flattened) with ribbons and packets. Also included is the postal envelope and the transmittal letter from the records office.