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Harry was born in 1881 in Doncaster, to Peter and Sarah Dimaline, the second of eight children born to the couple and one of six boys. In 1891 when Harry is 9, the family are living at 17 Factory Lane, Doncaster. Harry’s father Peter is employed as a canvas sack manufacturer, and elder brother Joseph is a printer’s apprentice. By 1901 the family have moved house, and Joseph has flown the nest. Harry is now the eldest child still living at home, along with his younger brothers and sisters. Harry was working as a railway boiler smith, and younger brother Albert is a brass finisher. None of the women are listed as working in either census. In November 1901, Harry married Flora Shepherd when he was 20 and she 19. The couple had six children together between 1902 and 1911; five boys and one girl and lived at 1 Burcroft Terrace, Conisbrough at the time of Harry’s death. The names of their children are very interesting as many have middle names which match those of Harry’s siblings, and their eldest child’s middle name rather coincidentally matches the rather unique first name of the male witness at their wedding (Dodson).

 

Harry Dimaline

We visited Harry's memorial in August 2014, and laid his tribute. He is commemorated on the Loos Memorial to the Missing, which lays in the middle of the Loos battlefields. 

The Conisbrough and Denaby 100 Project

The army attestation papers for Harry are dated 25th August 1914, meaning that he wasted very little time in signing up. The papers appear to show him being 33 (possibly 32) years and 87 days old’ when he enlisted in the 1st Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment. He also notes that he has previously been part of the 3rd Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment, and gave his profession at the time as ‘Labourer’. Harry was by no means a tall man, standing at just 5 feet and 4¾ inches tall and weighing 122lb (8stone 10lb) with a 38½ inch chest when fully expanded. His medical record states that he had two tattoos on his left forearm – a heart and what may possibly say a tombstone. The paper states that he also had a tattoo of a ‘figure of a lady’ on his right forearm.

 

Harry enlisted as a Private and was mobilised on the very same day. He was appointed Lance Corporal on 23rd February 1915, and was reported ‘missing, believed killed in action in the field’ on 20th September 1915, although is official date of death is recorded as 29th September 1915. Flora must have been reasonably savvy, as having presumably received the dreaded telegram informing her of her husband’s death, there are army records in Harry’s service papers which show Flora wrote to the army “stating her husband must be dead and not “Missing”, forwarding a newspaper cutting as evidence (undated) 2-11-1915.” It can perhaps be assumed that the date of death was determined after examination of these newspaper cuttings.

 

Harry’s records show him having been reported missing on 20th September, and the battalion war diaries on that date state simply that the battalion was at Locre (Belgium, south-west of Ypres) and that they undertook ‘Brigade Operation Order no 72”. This was instructions for the movement of men into the front line. The instructions state that “Machine Gunners 83rd Brigade (of which 1st Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment is a part) will not be withdrawn.” The Officers of the 83rd Brigade were also to “continue command in both the Sectors and trenches under their charge”. All of this was in preparation for the Battle of Loos, which started on 25th September.

 

The closing day of the initial stages of the Battle was the 29th September, which is the official date of Harry’s death. The war diaries from that day show an action which had been running for hours or days, and had seen the battalion move several times, finally ending up in the vicinity of the Hohenzollern Redoubt, which was much fought over on 28th/29th September.

 

Unfortunately, his actual date of death is somewhat dubious given the army records, his wife’s letter and the eventual date of death being recorded as 29th September.

 

Harry’s grave is unknown and he is commemorated on the Loos Memorial to the Missing – another indication that his date of death was the 29th September as eventually recorded, as the Battalion were in Locre, near Ypres on the 20th when he had reportedly gone missing.

 

Through contact with Harry's eldest brother Joseph's great grandson, we have learnt that Harry's brother Charles also died in WW1, and is buried at Bagneux British Cemetery, near Doullens where Lewis Ackroyd is buried. He was a Petty Officer in the RNVR and died on 24th August 1918. Joseph's son also fought in WW1 along with his uncles and survived, going on to name his own son Charles Harry, in memory of his lost uncles. 

 

We would like to thank Joseph's Great Grandson Steve Dimaline for the wonderful photographs of Harry and his brother Charles. 

Harry's inscription and the Loos  Memorial and Cemetery

(click for larger images)

Harry's brother Charles, and his grave near Doullens. Thank you to Steve Dimaline, Great Nephew of Harry and Charles through their elder brother Joseph, for the information and images. 

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