DODD, Alfred Searle
| Service Number: | 3003 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 49th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 7 June 1917, age not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Brisbane Albert Street Uniting Church Honour Roll, Corinda Sherwood Shire Roll of Honor, Graceville War Memorial, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient), Townsville West End Methodist Church Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 29 Oct 1916: | Involvement Private, 3003, 49th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Marathon embarkation_ship_number: A74 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Oct 1916: | Embarked Private, 3003, 49th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Marathon, Brisbane |
Help us honour Alfred Searle Dodd's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Alfred Dodd was born in Maryborough, Qld and attended school in Townsville. He presented himself for enlistment on the 26th September 1916 armed with written permission from his parents; Susan and Ambrose Dodd of Appel Street, Chelmer, and a letter from the Commanding Officer Naval Reserve Brisbane stating that the Navy gave its permission for Alfred to enlist. Although he had stated he had 4 years experience in the Navy Reserve, according to his father he was primarily a bandsman. Alfred stated that he was 19 years old and employed as a mercer.
One month after enlisting, Alfred embarked with reinforcements for the 49th Battalion on the “Marathon” in Brisbane. Such a short period between enlistment and embarkation illustrates the desperate need for reinforcements on the western front after the mauling that three Australian divisions received at Pozieres and Mouquet Farm in July and August of 1916.
Alfred disembarked in Plymouth on 9th January 1917 and was sent to the 12th Training Battalion at Codford. Four months later he was posted overseas travelling via the camps at Etaples to Belgium. He arrived at his unit on 13th May 1917.
After the failure of the Somme campaign in 1916, to gain the breakthrough he so desperately wanted, General Sir Douglas Haig shifted his attention to Flanders and the Ypres salient. His plan called for a great offensive to begin in front of the village of Messines. On the 7th June 1917; 19 huge underground mines exploded all along the front, followed by an intense artillery barrage and an infantry advance of some 800 metres. The 49th Battalion as part of the 4th Division AIF jumped the bags at 9:00am to advance across the shattered ground.
Sometime during the day, Alfred Dodd was killed in no man’s land. Red Cross reports of his death are conflicting with some witnesses claiming he was hit by a sniper and others claiming he was struck by an artillery shell. Given that many of the witnesses were not interviewed until several months later, and were in hospital recovering from wounds or gassing; it is not surprising that memories become faded or soldier’s identities are mixed up. Regardless of his fate, Alfred’s body was never recovered. He had been with the battalion 25 days.
At war’s end, an imposing memorial was constructed at the eastern gate of the city wall in Ypres, Belgium. Known as the Menin Gate, the names of some 55,000 Commonwealth soldiers who perished in Flanders and have no known grave are inscribed on the tablets there. Every evening since the gate’s construction in 1923, the last post is played at 8:00pm (except for the years of occupation in WW2) by local volunteers to honour the sacrifice made 100 years ago.
Three months before Alfred’s death, his elder sister Alice Maud Dodd enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service. She saw service in Egypt and Salonika aboard a hospital ship and returned to Australia in 1919.
Courtesy of Ian Lang
Mango Hill