Lance Corporal Albert Dodd

Albert was born in Liverpool in the last quarter of 1892, the son of George Dodd and his wife Sophia (née Brown).  George and Sophia were both born in Liverpool, married in 1889 and had four children. Albert had an older sister Emily, and younger siblings Frank and May. 

 

In 1901 the family, with three children, is living at 57 Tintern Street, Kirkdale.  His father George, 35, is a sawyer, his mother Sophia is 32, Emily is 10, Albert 8, and Frank 5.

 

By 1911 they have moved to 9 Penuel Road, Walton. His father is 45, a saw maker in a saw mill, his mother is 42, Emily is 20, no occupation, Albert is 18, a case packing maker (timber) for an engineer’s, Frank is 16, a grocer’s shop assistant, and May is 7.

 

Albert enlisted in Liverpool as Private 24284, 19th Bn (medal roll shows 18th Bn) King’s (Liverpool) Regiment. Based on the amount of the War Gratuity, he served about 27 months, enlisting in about August 1915.  He was promoted to Lance Corporal and at some point was transferred to the 12th Bn K.L.R.  

 

Albert was one of those Missing in action. His name appeared in the list of Missing published in the Liverpool Daily Post on 18th January 1918.

 

His sister Emily made enquiries with the International Red Cross, who coordinated information on prisoners of war.  ICRC records reveal that two negative responses were sent, the first on 30/1/1918 and the second on 6/5/1918.  A notation dated 11/7/1918 on his ICRC card records, Pte. A. Harrison, at Serre,

“I was informed by a comrade that L/Cpl A. Dodd was killed in action, this was official and seen by said comrade.” 

 

His family apparently received definite news of his fate after more than 10 months of anguish, and placed a notice in the Liverpool Echo on 9th October 1918:

“Missing since November 30, 1917, now officially presumed killed on that date, aged 25 years, Lance Corporal Albert Dodd, 24284 K.L.R. (late Pals), eldest son of George and Sophia Dodd, 13, Victoria Drive, Orrell Park.  (Deeply regretted by Parents and Sisters, also brother Frank (en route for Russia).”

 

A letter from his sister Emily was published in the Liverpool Echo a year after Albert went missing, on 22nd November 1918, under the heading,

‘A Sister’s Search’:

 We have received the following letter from Miss E. Dodd, 13, Victoria Drive, Orrell Park, Liverpool:-
 

 

Albert’s death was presumed for official purposes, to have occurred on or since 30th November 1917.  His body was never recovered from the battlefield, and he is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial, Louverval, Nord.

 

His mother Sophia, at 13 Victoria Drive, Orrell Park, Liverpool, received Albert’s Army effects, including a War Gratuity of £13-10s and a pension of 10/- a week.  His brother Frank survived the war.  His parents later moved to 6 Sandyville Grove, Walton, where his father died aged 61 in 1926.  Sophia died in 1934, aged 65.