Pte. John Dormann, 15th London Regiment.

British War Medal 1914 - 20.
Victory Medal. 
5059 Pte. J. A. Dormann, 15th London Regiment (Civil Service Rifles).

The birth of John Alexander Dormann was registered in 1887 and his baptism took place at St Peter’s church, Fulham, on 23^rd August 1893. He was the last of four sons born to Julius Joseph and Emma Dormann. Their four children were Julius (born December 1879), Albert Louis (born 1881), Edward (born July 1883) and John Alexander. The family lived in Rosaville Road, Fulham at least until 1888 but at some point after moved a few streets away to a four room dwelling at 84 Sherbrooke Road. The 1891 Census notes that Julius had been born in Switzerland and was working as a waiter.

By the time of the 1901 Census the three older boys were all employed but still living at home; Julius was a solicitor’s clerk, Albert worked as a grocer’s assistant and Edward was employed as a barber’s assistant. John, now aged 14, was presumably still at school.

After leaving school, John Dormann embarked on a career in the Civil Service and various mentions in the London Gazette chart his progress. In May 1906 he was appointed as a second division clerk and the following August he was assigned to the Post Office. In early 1910 he transferred to the Board of Trade.

The 1911 Census records the Dormann family as still living at 84 Sherbrooke Road, Fulham.  Julius, the father, now aged 57 was still working as a waiter. He and Emma had been married for 32 years. All four sons were single, still living at home, and doing the same jobs. At some point after this, the family moved a few doors down the street to 60 Sherbrooke Road.

On 25^th November 1915, John Alexander Dormann enlisted in the 15^th London Regiment for the duration of the war. His surviving Attestation Papers state that he was 28 years 9 months old, 5’ 7” tall, and of fair physical development. His occupation is given as a clerk with the Commercial Intelligence Branch of the Board of Trade. In addition, he signed army form E.624 affirming his willingness to serve outside the United Kingdom. John had had to apply to his employer for official permission to enlist and this was granted on 1^st December, following which he was embodied in the 3/15^th Londons and began his basic training. 

On 13th May 1916, John sailed from Southampton, arriving at the Base Depot at Le Havre the following day. On 15^th June, he joined the 1/15^th Battalion at Angres, north of Arras. Here, a number of selected men were busy rehearsing for a forthcoming trench raid.

On the night of 3rd July, the raiding party, their faces blackened with charcoal and equipped with the usual trench fighting weapons, including Mills bombs, coshes and bayonets, attempted to get into the German trenches. It seems the Germans suspected what was afoot and were able to bring down an artillery barrage, pinning most of the raiders down in their own front line trench. A few of the men managed to get across No Man’s Land but the raid was not a success; one officer was killed and numerous men wounded, including John Alexander Dormann, who suffered shrapnel wounds to his leg.

The Regimental History did not dwell on this incident, simply stating “Early in July the Battalion was ordered to raid the enemy trenches in the Bois en Hache, just north of Souchez, but although 5 officers and 100 other ranks were specially trained for the event, it was a dismal failure, and it has long been a forbidden topic of conversation in Civil Service Rifles circles.”

John was evacuated away from the front line to a Casualty Clearing Station and then on 5^th July 1916 to the 3^rd Canadian General Hospital at Boulogne. The next day, he was on his way to England, where he would spend 300 days (8^th July 1916 to 3^rd May 1917) at the Welsh Metropolitan War Hospital at Whitchurch near Cardiff. In a way, his “Blighty” wound could be seen as an incredible stroke of luck since he missed the later stages of the Somme Battles, in which the 1/15^th Battalion suffered terrible casualties in two costly attacks, first on 15^th September at High Wood and then on 7^th October at the Butte de Warlencourt.

Early in May 1917, John Dormann was granted 10 days’ leave to visit his family in Fulham and then, on 15^th June, he was again sailing from Southampton and heading back to the Western Front. He again passed through the Base Depot at Le Havre and on 12^th July was back with the 1/15^th Battalion. He had just missed another costly attack as the Battalion had had just over 200 casualties, including 56 killed, in the Battle of Messines Ridge in early June.

 

On 28^th November 1917, the Battalion took over part of the Hindenburg Line near Graincourt, and the following day John Dormann suffered a shrapnel wound to the left knee. This wound was not so serious as he rejoined the Battalion in early December only to suffer shrapnel wounds to his arm and back on 22^nd January 1918 while the 1/15^th was engaged in routine trench holding.

John was back with the Battalion when the Kaiser’s Battle opened on 21^st March 1918. The 1/15^th Londons were in support trenches in Lincoln Reserve on Beauchamp Ridge and under shell fire throughout the morning. By night, the forward battalions were ordered to withdraw and the Londons’ support trenches became the new front line. The situation became increasingly confused and the Battalion was ordered to fall back. At some time on 22^nd March 1918, John Dormann was reported as missing. Six months later, he was officially accepted as a POW in Germany.

Once the war was over, John Dormann was quickly repatriated back to the UK, arriving there on 27^th November 1918. He was discharged from the army on 19^th February 1919 and resumed his duties in the Civil Service. The London Gazette of 7^th November 1919 mentions his promotion to Market Officer in the Department of Overseas Trade. In 1922 he married Winifred Rose Cashin. His progress up the Civil Service ladder continued with promotion to Intelligence Officer, Senior Officer and Senior Staff Officer. In the New Year’s Honours List of 1947 he was awarded the MBE.

John Alexander Dormann appears to have retired to Southend, where his death was registered in the first quarter of 1968. He was 80 years old.

Sjt. Rawlins, Scots Greys: A Conman's Victim.

Queen's South Africa Medal with clasps "Relief of Kimberley", "Orange Free State", "Johannesburg" & "Belfast".
4105 Sjt. E. Rawlins, 2nd Dragoons.

Edward Percy Rawlins, the fifth child of Walter and Fanny Rawlins, was born in Pewsey, near Marlborough in Wiltshire, on 21st February 1876. Walter Rawlins was a farmer and cattle dealer and was prosperous enough to be able to send Edward to Newbury Grammar School, where he is listed among the scholars on the 1891 Census. Edward served an apprenticeship with a Mr Biggs of Tunbridge Wells for two years and then on 9th May 1895, at the age of 19 years and 3 months, enlisted in the Royal Scots Greys, agreeing to serve 7 years with the Colours and 5 years in the Reserve. His Attestation Papers describe him as just over 5' 11" tall, and weighing 160lbs with a fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He had scars on his left elbow and the palm of his left hand. His religion was given as Church of England and his profession as shopman.

Edward seems to have made slow but steady progress with his army career, being appointed Lance Corporal on 9th March 1897, granted his first Good Conduct Pay on 9th May the same year and being promoted to Corporal on 19th October 1898. In November 1899, he went with the Regiment to South Africa where he would serve for one and a half years, earning entitlement to the Queen's South Africa Medal with five clasps. He was appointed Lance Sergeant on 17th December 1900 and promoted to Sergeant on 3rd April 1901.

Edward returned to England on 25th April 1901. A further period of home service ensued during which he married Lilly Rose Wasley at St Stephen's Church, Wandsworth, on 14th September 1903. Finally, on 7th August 1905, Edward was transferred to the Army Reserve.
Following his discharge from the army, Edward and his wife moved to Hawthorn Farm, Blythburgh, near Southwold in Suffolk, where he worked as a farmer. On 9th November 1918, Edward, now aged 42, joined the Royal Air Force as a Private, Second Class, but would only serve for six days as the Great War finally came to an end and his services were no longer required. In the 1920s, trading on his experience in the Scots Greys, he successfully ran the Southwold Riding Academy and soon became a well known member of Southwold society.

The story now jumps to the summer of 1933, when a certain Major Leonard T. Crane arrived in Southwold and checked in to the fashionable Marlborough Hotel. Good looking, urbane and with a winning smile and a military bearing, Major Crane soon made a favourable impression on the local gentry with whom he cultivated connections. The Major had an interesting story to tell. He claimed that he had been the co-litigant, together with George V, in a legal action against the National Provincial Bank for the sum of £850 million. The involvement of the monarchy had made the case politically sensitive and, as a result, it was held in camera before Lord Sankey, the Lord High Chancellor of England. Crane's successful pleading of his own case had resulted in the case being won but due to a bureaucratic mistake the £10 million coming to him had been paid into the Chancery Court. Now, Crane went on to explain, releasing his funds from Chancery would require a costly legal process, which he could not at present afford. However, anyone who wished to contribute to the legal costs would be recompensed many times over once the money was released.

Not only was Crane a most persuasive speaker but he had a wealth of official looking documents to back up his story and, at a time of serious economic depression, his story was readily accepted by people who perhaps should have known better. Around 30 of Southwold's residents, including Edward Rawlins, who invested £650 in the enterprise, were taken in by this incredible tale. It was only when Crane came into contact with the Rev. R. N. Pike, Southwold's vicar and a man with some knowledge of the law, that suspicions were aroused. Realising the game was up, Crane fled to London and disappeared. He was eventually tracked down by the "Sunday Graphic" newspaper and the truth finally emerged. Major Leonard T. Crane was a complete fiction. His real name was David Percy Caplice, a timber salesman and bricklayer. The whole sorry saga reached its conclusion in October 1934 when Caplice was found guilty of obtaining money by forgery and false pretences at Suffolk Assizes in Ipswich and sentenced to four years hard labour. His victims were left to bear their losses as stoically as possible. A detailed account of this elaborate hoax can be read here: The Wenhaston Millions.

The whole affair seems to have hit Edward Rawlins hard. He went into a slow decline and died two years later on 14th June 1936, at the age of 60. His estate was valued at £14080 5s 6d, a not inconsiderable sum in those days, and proof perhaps that he wasn't completely financially ruined by the lure of the "Wenhaston Millions."