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 23rd 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 25th November 1915,
John Alexander Dormann enlisted in the 15th 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
1st December, following which he was embodied in the 3/15th
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 15th
June, he joined the 1/15th 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 5th July 1916
to the 3rd Canadian General
Hospital at Boulogne. The next day, he was on his way to England, where he would spend 300 days (8th
July 1916 to 3rd 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 1/15th Battalion
suffered terrible casualties in two costly attacks, first on 15th
September at High Wood and then on 7th 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 15th
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 12th July was back with the 1/15th 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 28th 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 22nd January 1918
while the 1/15th was engaged in routine trench holding.
John was back with the Battalion
when the Kaiser’s Battle
opened on 21st March 1918. The 1/15th 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 22nd 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 27th
November 1918. He was discharged from the army on 19th February 1919
and resumed his duties in the Civil Service. The London Gazette of 7th
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment