THE NAME ON THE MENIN GATE
PRIVATE BENJAMIN POGSON (1894 -1914), 3/10223, D COMPANY, 2ND BATTALION, THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON’S (WEST RIDING) REGIMENT
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow,
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.
From ‘For the Fallen’ by Laurence Binyon
Benjamin Pogson lived only a short life of 20 years. There is only one known photograph of him. He had no wife and no children. He never met any of his nephews and nieces. He had no funeral, no mourners present and no known grave. Apart from his name on two memorials his life goes relatively unrecorded. And yet, his relatives, their descendants and the rest of the nation owe him a tremendous debt; one that can never be repaid.
His ancestors had been agricultural workers and tanners. As the small rural tanneries started to disappear, to be replaced in Victorian times by much larger tanneries in the bigger towns to meet the booming demand for leather goods, the Pogson family followed the work, moving north from Sleaford, Lincolnshire to Yorkshire; first to Stairfoot Ardsley near Barnsley, where Ben’s father Edward Pogson was born in 1864, and then to Hunslet, part of Leeds.
Ben was born at 20 Arthington Grove, Hunslet on the 11th of November 1894, one of eight children to Edward Pogson and Mary Sheard from Hunslet. He had three elder brothers – James William (1887-1888), Willie (1891-1950) and Frank (1893-1957) and one younger brother, George Edward (1898-1902). Maud (1890-1920) was his elder sister and Ida (1896-1980) and Angelina (1900-1990) were his younger sisters.
His father, Edward, had continued the family trade in the leather industry as a skilled currier1 but working in the tannery was hard, unhealthy and unpleasant2 work and neither Ben nor either of his brothers went into that line of employment. Willie was an iron moulder and Frank was an iron fitter, likely working for the local railway works. In 1911, just three years before the outbreak of World War One, both parents and the surviving six children were living at 24 Rydall Terrace, Holbeck, Leeds. Ben, then 16 years old, was working as a milling machinist (iron), likely at the same place as his two brothers.
The Move to Huddersfield
At some time in 1913 the entire family relocated to Huddersfield. Relocation was not surprising. Edward was a strong supporter of the Trade Union movement and a known agitator for workers rights. Family stories suggest that, because of his union activity, he found it hard to secure work in the leather industry and was later blacklisted by the Tannery owners across the whole of northern England. It is probable at this time that he could no longer secure work in Leeds but was able to find a job as a leather currier at B Crook and Sons, Sports Goods manufacturers on Fitzwilliam Street, Huddersfield with the family living at 69 Clement Street in the Birkby district.
The move to Huddersfield brought changes; new jobs and new directions. Willie became a goods guard for the London North Western Railway Company and moved across to Lancashire to live. Maud had been a tailoress in Leeds and likely moved to Chilton and Wigley in Huddersfield although her health was poor. Frank was now a brass finisher at Joseph Hopkinson and Sons Ltd, Valve Makers at its Britannia Works at Birkby. Ida, a yarn spinner in Leeds, and Angelina, about to leave school, would have had to seek new employment in Huddersfield too.
Maybe Ben was finding those changes hard to adjust to after only a short time in a strange town; he had left his friends behind. Maybe he was struggling to find work; maybe he felt it was time to make changes too. It is not certain when he joined the army. The most likely possibility is that he volunteered as a reservist in May 19133, shortly after the move from Leeds and well before the outbreak of war. It would have been a good way to make new friends and to start a new social life and, if he was unemployed, then the pay would be useful.
Recruits to the Special Reserve usually carried out five or six months of full time training (in this case likely to be at the Regimental Depot in Halifax) after which they were obliged to attend for 3-4 weeks annual training4 each year. The motivations for enlisting in the Special Reserve, apart from the money, would be the social aspect of meeting others from a similar background, and the appeal of the annual fortnight-long camp. The younger recruits tended to walk-out of the lines of the camp in their smartest uniform, often to flirt with local girls for whom the annual summer camp was by all accounts a pleasant distraction. These summer training camps were often the nearest that these working class and lower middle class men had to an annual holiday. In those days it was a significant factor towards successful recruitment to have what was in effect a paid holiday comprising manly events like shooting, marching, field manoeuvres, and sport such as football and cricket, as well as exploring the local villages when stood down from parades5.
What is certain is that by the outbreak of war on the 4th of August 1914, with the heavy casualty numbers being kept a strict secret from the press, at nineteen years of age, Ben had already joined the 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve) of the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment (known as ‘the Dukes’ with its home barracks in Halifax) as an infantryman. His Battalion was mobilised for war service on the 8th of August 1914.
On the 4th of September 1914 his elder brother Frank enlisted in the 5th Battalion of the same regiment. Maybe Frank was influenced by his younger brother. Or maybe he was just swept up and carried away, like a great number of his contemporaries, with national fervour and the prospect of excitement, adventure and foreign travel. In the summer of 1914 the newspapers were full of the talk of war and there was a massive advertising and recruitment campaign being carried out across the West Riding of Yorkshire by the British Army6. In August 1914, 4000 people attended the first volunteers’ recruitment meeting at Huddersfield Town Hall7 to form a new battalion of the West Riding Regiment.
The Start of War
The regular soldiers in the 2nd Battalion of the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment were already stationed in Dublin and landed at Le Havre on the 16th of August 1914 for service on the Western Front. Both sides were digging in along a meandering line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France. The 2nd Battalion, in 5 Division of II Corps, was fully operational in France by 18th August.
The plan of the French and British to advance into Germany was quickly frustrated by the Germans who were sweeping through neutral Belgium. On 24th August six German divisions came up against the two divisions of II Corps at Mons. Despite their overwhelming superiority the German attack crumpled in the face of the superb rifle-fire from regiments of the 3rd and 5th Divisions. Mons was followed by a retreat towards Paris but the tide was turned at the Marne and the Germans withdrew. Now began ‘the race to the sea’ as each army tried to outflank the other.
Ben still needed further basic training. It looks likely that, following the mobilisation of the 3rd Battalion Special Reserve8 on the 8th of August 1914, he completed that6 training at Sunderland, Gateshead and then Earsdon in North Tyneside where he practised constructing trenches and barbed wire entanglements. Thereafter he was sent out to join the Regiment, leaving Earsdon on the 2nd of September but not reaching the theatre of war in France and Flanders until the 8th of September 19149. The Battalion War Diary records that it was a very cold and damp day when 102 Other Ranks caught up with ‘the Duke’s’ at Cr(h)ezy-en-Orxois in Aisne, France on the 10th of September. He had missed out on the early fighting, particularly the regiment’s involvement in the Battle of Mons and the first Battle of the Marne. It was just as well because the casualties had been heavy and Private Benjamin Pogson and the other untested recruits were sent forward to fill those gaps in the ranks.
It is impossible to say exactly if or where Ben fought in those early weeks during September and October (many Service Records were lost following bomb and fire damage at the records office10) but the Regiment was in action during those months at the Battle of the Aisne and the Battle of La Bassée so he was likely to be involved. He may have been held with the reserve behind the front line but records11 show that he formally transferred to D company, 2nd Battalion as a front-line soldier on the 23rd of September 1914. Furthermore, what is also certain is that Ben fought in the brutal conflict which became known as the 1st Battle of Ypres in November 1914, only two months after arriving in Flanders.
The First Battle of Ypres
On October 19, 1914, near the Belgian city of Ypres, the ancient Flemish city with its fortifications guarding the ports of the English Channel and access to the North Sea beyond, Allied and German forces had begun the first battle of Ypres. It was an attempt to control the city and its advantageous position on the north coast of Belgium.
About 4 miles to the east of Ypres, where ‘the Dukes’ were headed at the beginning of November, and overlooking the city, were low hills running south-west to north-east. The slopes were gradual and the rises were slight giving the appearance of a saucer lip around Ypres. On the Ypres to Menin road at Hooge, the elevation was about 100 feet. Possession of the relatively higher ground to the south and east of the city gave ample scope for ground observation, enfilade fire12 and converging artillery fire. An occupier of the ridges also had the advantage that artillery positions and the movement of reinforcements and supplies could be screened from view. The Germans occupied that higher ground.
The lowlands west of the ridge were a mixture of woods, meadows and fields, cultivated by the residents of small villages and farms. The countryside was divided by high hedgerows dotted with trees and cut by streams and ditches. At this early stage of the war the surfaces had not been too-badly churned up or pitted with craters nor the trees flattened. It was difficult for infantry manoeuvres because of the lack of observation points, impossible for mounted action because of the many obstructions and awkward for artillery because of the limited view.
Around Ypres the water table was too high to dig deep trenches13. Instead, defences were constructed using sandbags and timber (called ‘breastworks’) and were heavily protected by barbed wire.
3rd to 10th of November 1914: Hooge Wood (High Wood)
The Regiment had four Companies – A, B, C and D – and was commanded by Major E.G. Harrison. Ben was in D Company14. The regulars had been marching and fighting since August, the reserves less than that but most were weary and in need of a rest. They were not about to get one.
The following is a mixture of extracts from the Battalion War Diary15 and Major E. G Harrison’s journal16 and particular reliance has been placed on the summaries in ‘The Death of the Dukes’ (see Bibliography below).
3rd of November – ‘the Dukes’ were resting up in Bailleul just inside the French border with Belgium. Next day they marched the 2 1/2 miles in drizzling rain to billets in Dranouter, just inside the Belgium border.
5th of November – they marched through Ypres, avoiding a heavy artillery bombardment, to occupy the firing line facing east in Hooge Wood, relieving the 22nd Brigade (who by now had only 900 men remaining out of 4000 at the start of the War.) At 22.00 hours the German attack died out and the trenches were taken over by ‘the Bedfords and Cheshires’ with ‘the Dukes’ being pulled back to provide support from the edge of Hooge Wood.
6th of November – they endured 5 hours of continuous enemy shelling. At 22.00 hours ‘the Dukes’ were ordered to relieve a regiment in Brigade Reserves three miles away. It took them two hours in the dark through a wood pitted with shell holes and 18 inches deep in mud in the pouring rain.
7th of November – they suffered heavy shelling all day. At 06.00 hours they were ordered to relieve the 9th Brigade so had to march back in the damp and foggy morning through the same wood of the night before. With visibility so bad, half the battalion got lost but they met up again at Herenthage Chateau and then continued to a position only one mile to the rear (on the south side of the Menin Road) of their original starting point at Hooge Wood from the night before.
8th of November – Heavy shelling lasted all day. At 14.00 hours C Company and a platoon from A company were ordered to reinforce the French Regiment to their left and assisted them to retake their trenches (lost earlier) on the north side of the road. D Company had remained in position. In total the regiment lost 3 officers and 87 men that day (killed, wounded or missing in action). Two Sergeants (one called Ernest Pogson – no relation) were promoted and later received a Distinguished Conduct Medal each for rallying the troops in the absence of those officers. Although D Company was not involved in that action they also lost 2 men killed. 60% of those killed from all four Companies that day were reinforcements.
9th of November – At 10.00 hours information suggested that the Germans were massing to the north-east of ‘the Dukes’ position. At 10.30 hours heavy shelling started and continued all day. Several minor attacks were made by the enemy. At 16.30 hours B Company were sent to dig trenches and reinforce ‘the Lincolns’ one mile to the right of Herenthage Chateau. ‘The Dukes’ experienced sniping all day but at 18:15 hours there was very heavy fighting to the right and left of their position. Over the day four men were killed including one from D Company.
10th of November – Again ‘the Dukes’ were shelled all day. There was heavy fighting to the right after a French attack there. At 16.00 hours the Battalion was ordered to move to Veldhoek Chateau on the north side of the Ypres to Menin Road with one Company in the firing line and the rest in support of the 1st Brigade. After two hours they were relieved by the Royal Scots Fusiliers. At 21.00 hours they in turn relieved ‘the Northamptons’. Their new fire trenches were some 450 yards through the wood past Veldhoek Chateau. The journey was treacherous through the thick wood in the dark with trees angled and smashed by shell fire and with deep slide-holes and bogs. The firing line consisted of 180 men of D company and a portion of A Company and 2 Maxim Guns from the Royal Hussars as their own machine-guns were out of action. They had 130 men from A Company in support together with C company plus 40 Royal Scots Guards in Nonne Bosschen Wood behind them. 50 men were held out in reserve. It took until 04.00 hours next morning to complete these arrangements due to the terrible conditions. B company were still away supporting ‘the Lincolns’.
Wednesday, the 11th of November 1914: The Battle of Nonne Bosschen (Nun’s Wood)
06.00 hours – exceptionally heavy shelling began, practically all shrapnel, but with rifle and machine gun fire across the whole Allied position from the firing line back to the reserves. Private Harry Ryder, who was in the firing line with Ben and the others from D company that day, said later, ‘I should think it was the heaviest shell-fire that ever was known. The air was white with smoke. We could not see more than ten yards in front of us.’
07.30 hours – the shelling ceased. ‘The Dukes’ reserves were ordered up to the support trenches as the Prussian Guard attacked. The message from Lt. Carey, leading D company in the fire trenches, to Harrison said, ‘Very hard pressed but would hang on as long as possible.’ Lt Carey was wounded and taken prisoner in that attack.
Harrison’s response was to advance with the rest of his forces to find that the Germans had broken through as far as Vedhoek Chateau. The French opened fire from the left whilst A Company held steady and repulsed the attack upon their position. Harrison and C company staged a bayonet charge to regain the ground almost back to the fire trench from which Lt Carey and D company had been driven.
In Harry Ryder’s words, ‘Before we knew where we were the Prussians were all over us. The order was passed down the line to retire into the woods. We did so. In the wood were our reserves and supports waiting for us. Then came the order to attack. We did so with the bayonet and before long there wasn’t so many of the Prussian Guard left.’
Harrison’s right flank now rested on the Ypres-Menin road and beyond that the next troops were 300 yards to the rear of him. To the left, the French troops, who had assisted him to make the counter-attack from Nonne Boschen, had vacated their position. Thus both of his flanks were exposed.
10.00 hours – Harrison asked for support to retake his original trenches but received no reply until 15.00 hours.
15.00 hours – ‘the Dukes’ dug in under a bank some 60 yards from the Germans who were occupying ‘the Dukes’ old trenches where Ben had been positioned that morning. The Germans continued to make half-hearted attacks at intervals whilst continuing to shell and fire at ‘the Dukes’.
23.00 hours – Harrison was finally able to ‘report our precarious position as regards our flanks.’ Reinforcements were sent to him next day.
Of ‘the Dukes’ killed on 11.11.1914 alone – 14 were from A Company, 42 from D Company, 6 from B Company and 3 from C Company. The Germans put their casualties at 15 officers and 500 men. It had been the heaviest day of the war so far in terms of casualties for ‘the Dukes’ which reflects the ferocity of the fighting.
The Outcome of the First Battle of Ypres
The Battle lasted from the 19th of October to the 22nd of November. It is generally regarded as having achieved an indecisive result because it did not lead to a positive outcome for either side17. By mid-to-late November both sides were exhausted from the continuous assaults and loss of numbers. The soldiers were tired and suffering from poor morale. The First Battle of Ypres was deadly on all sides and led to numerous casualties. It is estimated that Britain suffered around 58,000 casualties in the battle, with nearly 8,000 deaths, that France experienced approximately 50,000 casualties, while Belgium endured over 21,000 and Germany suffered about 130,000. (Casualties include wounded, killed or missing in action). In the end, the battle was typical of the conditions at the time, in that defensive fortifications ensured numerous dead and injured with little or no results.
The significance of the battle was that it was the last desperate push by the Germans to break through the British lines at Ypres in their attempt to take the Chanel ports and isolate Britain before winter set in. The Germans did not know that the British Army was so depleted that it had hardly any reserves and that their front lines were packed with every remaining man who could hold and fire a rifle including cooks, farriers, the lightly wounded and even HQ staff. If the Germans had broken through they might then have gone on to defeat the French Army too. As it turned out, that stand by the Allies, despite being substantially outnumbered, prevented the German advance against the Channel Ports. From that perspective it was a victory of sorts for the defenders, one in which the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment had played an important role.
On the 12th of November winter arrived and the fighting tailed off. The weather became much colder, with rain from the 12th to the 14th of November and a little snow on the 15th. The nights were frosty and on the 20th November the ground was covered by snow. Frostbite cases added to the existing stressful situation endured by troops occupying trenches half-full of freezing water, falling asleep standing up and being shelled and sniped at from opposing trenches only 100 yards away. However, Ben Pogson never experienced that winter.
What happened to Benjamin Pogson?
It should be borne in mind that the greatest number of casualties in World War One were caused by artillery fire18. It is quite possible that Ben was killed in the intense bombardment, described above by Private Harry Ryder of D Company, which started at 6:00 am on the morning of the 11th.
However, unlike much of the fighting elsewhere, this was not solely an artillery battle. At Nonne Bosschen the fighting was mainly rifle-fire and then desperate hand-to-hand combat in the trenches. Ben was with D Company occupying the forward trenches which were overrun by the Prussian Guard, where those that did not escape were either killed or captured. So there is every possibility that he may have died in that close-quarter fighting when the enemy attacked those trenches around 7:30 am or in the wood if he survived the retreat from the trenches. Whether he was covered by debris during the early shelling or killed later in the hand-to-hand fighting and buried in a temporary grave is not known but either way he was recorded as being killed in action.
Almost inevitably, along with the graves of so many others, the subsequent movement of troops backwards and forwards across that location, including the 2nd and 3rd Battles of Ypres, over the next four years of war, turning it from fields and woods into a sea of mud, ensured that his final resting place remained unknown.
He died aged 20 years on his birthday on the 11th of November 1914 only two months after his arrival in France; still not old enough to vote. It was that day that the regiment won the Battle Honour for Nonne Bosschen19. If there was a birthday package from home for him at the next mail-call then it remained unclaimed. It is easy to remember the dates of his birth and death because the 11th day of the 11th month also became Armistice Day when the war ended in 1918. It likely took a while for the news to filter home. His death merited a listing on page 3 of the Thursday the 10th of December 1914 edition of the Huddersfield Daily Examiner and a repeat on Page 11 of the Saturday the 12th of December 1914 edition of the Huddersfield and Holmfirth Examiner.
Ben’s brother Frank was held back with the 5th Battalion the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment, presumably to complete his training, not arriving in France until the 14th of April 1915. On the 11th of November 1915, exactly twelve months to the day after Ben had been killed, Frank was wounded in action, suffering a gunshot wound to the mouth. He was hospitalised at Wimereux, near Boulogne in Pas de Calais, and transferred back home, eventually making a full recovery. He married Edith Walshaw in 1916 in Huddersfield.
On the 25th of October 1916 Mary Pogson, Ben’s mother, was awarded a Dependent’s Pension of five shillings per week20 payable from the 28th of December 1915 resulting from Ben’s death.
After the War
For his contribution Ben was posthumously awarded his medals around the 19th of February 192121. These were the 1914 ‘Mons Star’ and clasp, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal. The clasp bore the dates 5 August – 22 November 1914 and was awarded to all men who had been under fire in France or Belgium on or between those dates.
The people of Huddersfield erected a war memorial at Norman Park in the Fartown and Birkby area, not far from Clement Street where Ben had lived. With others, his name is recorded on that memorial. Edward and Mary Pogson and the rest of the family (except Maud) must have been amongst the large crowd attending its unveiling on Saturday the 2nd of April 1921.
The Pogson family only spent about 13 years in Huddersfield so made little lasting impression on the town. Willie had already left around 1915. Maud never married and died of Brights (kidney) Disease in Huddersfield aged 30 years in 1920. She was buried at Edgerton Cemetery adjacent to Clement Street.
Ida had married William Bates, a joiner with Wimpenny Building Contractors, in 1916. In 1921 they were living at 53 Clement Street, Birkby.
By 1921 Edward was unemployed.
Frank had returned to work at Hopkinsons, and he and Edith were living at 46 Clement Street, Birkby. Their first child had been born in 1918 and they had named him Benjamin in memory of his younger brother.
Angelina was still single, living with her parents and working as a tailoress coal hand at Chilton and Wigley, Wholesale Clothiers in Viaduct Street. She married George Westbrook, a tailor, in 1926.
Ida and William migrated to New Zealand in 1924. In 1926 Frank and Edith and Angelina and George followed them. Ben and Frank had been close; had he lived it’s possible that Ben would have gone with them.
Likely sometime soon after Angelina’s departure in 1926 and with little choice brought on by a lack of income, Edward and Mary left 69 Clement Street and went to live with Willie and his family at Carnforth in Lancashire. They stayed there until their deaths and were buried there. So the only permanent traces of the family left behind in Huddersfield were Maud’s grave and Ben’s name on the memorial at Fartown.
On the 24th of July 1927 the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing was unveiled by Field Marshall Lord Plumer at Ieper, West Vlaanderen in Belgium. ln company with over fifty-four thousand others, the name of Benjamin Pogson was carved on that memorial (Addenda Panel 58). As Plumer said at that ceremony,
“He is not missing: he is here.”
©DavidLewisPogson 2023
Bibliography and other Sources:
- ‘My Ancestor was a Leather Worker’ by Ian Waller FSG published by Society of Genealogists Enterprises 2015
- ‘The Death of the Dukes’ by Graham Sargeant, Bob Sargeant, Cyril Ford and Scott Flaving, published by Valence House 2017
- ‘The History of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (1st and 2nd Battalions) 1881 -1923’ by Brigadier General C.D. Bruce CBE at http://www.dwr.org.uk/regimental-family-history-research/reference-books-available-personal-research/
- ‘The History of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (1702 – 1992) by Maj J.M. Brereton and Maj A.C.S. Savory (DWR) at http://www.dwr.org.uk/regimental-family-history-research/reference-books-available-personal-research/
- History of The DWR – Aug 1914 to Dec 1917 – J.J. Fisher at http://www.dwr.org.uk/regimental-family-history-research/reference-books-available-personal-research/
- The National Archives – various
- The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding) Regimental Association website
- The Long Long Trail – Battles of the Western Front in France and Flanders – 19 October – 22 November 1914, Battles of Ypres, 1914 – https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/
- History.com website https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-battle-of-ypres
- Blog.fold3.com website https://blog.fold3.com/october-19-november-22-1914-the-first-battle-of-ypres/ by Jenny Ashcroft October 19 – November 22, 1914: The First Battle of Ypres
- Greatwar.co.uk website Battles of the Ypres Salient http://www.greatwar.co.uk/ypres-salient/battles-ypres-salient.htm The Great War Arrives at Ypres
- Huddersfield’s Roll of Honour – Margaret J Stansfield, University of Huddersfield Repository
- Huddersfield Exposed.com website https://huddersfield.exposed/wiki/Welcome
- The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
- The Imperial War Museum website – various
- Extensive use of Wikipedia relating to the first Battle of Ypres
- ‘Find My Past’, ‘Ancestry’ and ‘Family Search’ genealogical websites
Footnotes and References:
- The process of the Currier was to pare or shave the leather to a level and uniform thickness, then to dye or colour it, treat it with oils and greases and then dry and treat the grainy surface with a wax dubbing (cod liver oil or beef tallow) or shellac finish. ‘My Ancestor was a Leather Worker’ pages 30 (see Bibliography)
- ‘My Ancestor was a Leather Worker’ pages 13-14 (see Bibliography)”
- Date based on an analysis of the sequence of issue of Army Service Numbers by RussT on https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/306663
- Comments and research by Keith_history_buf on https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/306663 and Paul Sims via that same website.
- Comments and research by Keith_history_buf on https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/306663 and http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/training-to-be-a-soldier/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recruitment_to_the_British_Army_during_World_War_I
- https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/food-exercise-and-sport/search-for-walking-and-cycling-routes/maps/DiscoverHuddersfieldWW1Trail2014.pdf
- History of The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment during the first three years of the Great War – Aug 1914 to Dec 1917 page 18 (see Bibliography)
- History of The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment during the first three years of the Great War – Aug 1914 to Dec 1917 page 18 (see Bibliography)
- W363, the National Archives. In September 1940, as the result of a fire caused by an incendiary bomb at the War Office Record Store in Arnside Street, London, approximately two thirds of 6.5 million soldiers’ documents for the First World War were destroyed.
- ‘The Death of the Dukes’ page 205 (see Bibliography). The table shows his date of transfer to D Company.
- A volley of gunfire directed along a line from end to end. Definition provided by Google’s English dictionary via Oxford Languages.
- https://blog.fold3.com/october-19-november-22-1914-the-first-battle-of-ypres/
- ‘The Death of the Dukes’ page 205 (see Bibliography). Ben Pogson was a Reservist and not one of the original Regulars and so his entry in the casualty list is greyed out. This is confirmed by the 3/ prefix to his Regimental Number by https://armyservicenumbers.blogspot.com/p/number-prefixes.html
- ‘The Death of the Dukes’ (see Bibliography) – extracts as referenced from the Battalion War Diary.
- The National Archives ref WO/95/1552/1 dated 30 November 1914
- https://www.historycrunch.com/first-battle-of-ypres-in-world-war-i.html#/
- https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-I/Killed-wounded-and-missing
- ‘The Death of the Dukes’ page 205 (see Bibliography)
- UK WW1 Pension Ledgers and Index Cards 1914-1923 via Ancestry.com
- Award of Medals Record, the National Archives, ref WO372/16/30330 Image ref 5065 for Benjamin Pogson Regimental No. 10223
This page links to the Huddersfield Exposed website where more information can be found on Benjamin Pogson and other names on the Huddersfield Roll of Honour by clicking on these respective links.
An abridged version of this article was also published in print and on-line by Northern Life Magazine in the ‘Lest We Forget – Wartime Memories Section’ of its November/December 2023 edition.
An alternative abridged version can also be read on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission page ‘For Evermore – Stories of the Fallen’.
See also He is not missing; he is here
More information on the Pogson Family History can be found at Pogson Genealogy
David Lewis Pogson, Writer 