210379 Pte. Samuel James Dobson British Army 3rd Btn. Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regt) from:Keele, Staffs (d.11th Nov 1919) Records show that Samuel Dobson died in Liverpool of pthisis contracted as a P.O.W. but the 3rd battalion were a reserve battalion and as such didn't go overseas. Knowing that it was fairly common for soldiers to be transferred around the battalions, I looked further and yesterday I found this interseting item:
One of the "strangest" lists which I have come across in this category is in the diary of a Division who are on the Somme during the 1916 battles, they captured a hapless German Infantryman who was out in no-man's-land during the night, his officer having sent him over to pin a list of British prisoners on the barbed wire in front of the British trenches.
The list is three pages long and neatly typed, the page headings in German but the rest in English. This list gives, in the main, the men's names, numbers, ranks, Battalion, and Company, and highlights those who were wounded when taken prisoner (very efficient, "very German"). The Battalions mentioned are the 5th and 7th Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regt), Queen Victoria's Rifles and the London Rifle Brigade (9th & 5th Battalions the London Regiment, respectively), the 5th Cheshires, and the 6th North Staffordshires. Officers are listed for the Sherwood Foresters, North Staffs, London Regt., and Royal Field Artillery. All the men are noted as captured on July 1st 1916, the first day of the Battle of The Somme.
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