Tales from the Front (28) recounts the life of Cecil Reginald (‘Tom’) Noble, a native of Victorian Bournemouth, who fought in World War I. In civilian life, a decorator, Noble saw greater opportunity as a professional soldier. In 1910, he enlisted with the 2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade. This took him to India, where he served for a few years. Thereafter, he went to France, where he showed conspicuous gallantry at Neuve Chapelle. This earned him a posthumous Victoria Cross.
Tales from the Front (27) recounts the life of Percy Lockyer, a native of Victorian Bournemouth, who fought in World War I. Before the war, he had worked as a stationer’s assistant, living in Ringwood during 1911. He had enlisted with the 6th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, but later changed to the 3rd Battalion, City of London Regiment. On March 10th, Private Lockyer participated in the first day of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, perhaps falling in the evening.
Tales from the Front (26) recounts the life of Albert Frank Dashwood, a native of Victorian Bournemouth, who fought in World War I. Before the war, he had worked as an errand boy and, later, an ironmonger’s porter. Before the war he had served with the Territorials, later going on reserve but recalled in 1914. Lance-Corporal Dashwood died of wounds at Vlamertinghe, near Ypres, early in March 1915.
Tales from the Front (25) recounts the life of George Collins, a native of Victorian Bournemouth who fought in World War I. Before the war, he had joined the regular army, serving with the 4th Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps, in India. They had returned to Europe as the BEF increased its numbers for the winter campaign in Western Europe. Sergeant Collins, a successful man from a successful family, fell at St Eloi early in March 1915.
Tales from the Front (24) traces the intertwined fates of Erasmus and William Trickett, two young labourers whose lives ended at Ypres in 1915. Their reconstructed story reveals how inherited customs, closed networks, and local identity struggled against the pressures of modernity, migration, and industrial conflict. Thus, through genealogy, social history, and battlefield detail, the narrative shows how war accelerated change and reshaped families whose futures once seemed secure.
Tales from the Front (23) tells the story of Thomas Avey Dix, a native of Victorian Bournemouth, who fought in the Great War. A professional soldier, he served with the 2nd Dorsets in India before coming with them to invade Mesopotamia (Iraq) in 1914. The official records list Private Dix’s demise as November 19th, two days after the expeditionary force won a significant victory at Sahil.
Tales from the Front (22) tells the story of Alfred Davis, a native of Victorian Bournemouth, who fought in the Great War. Davis belonged to the 2nd Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment, a unit sent from India to secure government-controlled oil interests in the Persian Gulf in late 1914. Davis came to Mesopotamia, now Iraq, a landscape long marked by conflict and empire. His journey ended at Sahil on November 17th, 1914.
Tales from the Front (21) tells the story of Frank Axford, a native of Victorian Bournemouth, who fought in the Great War. A professional soldier, Private Axford served with the Second Battalion, Dorset Regiment. He enlisted in 1907, later serving in India before falling during the invasion of Mesopotamia.
Tales from the Front (20) tells the story of Harold Charles Legg, born in Victorian Bournemouth, who fought in the Great War. Born into a family of skilled craftsmen, Legg stepped away from this tradition to become a professional soldier. He served with the 2nd Dorset Battalion, stationed in India, but in 1914 part of the attack force sent to Iraq. Legg did not survive wounds suffered at the Battle of Sahil.
Tales from the Front (19) tells the story of Edward Stanislaus Williams, a Bournemouth-born man, who fought in the Great War. A van-boy in 1911, Williams went with the First Dorsetshire battalion to France in 1914. He fell along the Messines-Ploegsteert Wood road, November 16th, 1914.