DUNFORD Charles Henry

Additional information on the memorial: L. Cpl.

The following information has been researched by Adrian Carter:
Charles Dunford resided at 2 Canal Side, Stourport. He had served thirteen years in the army, part of the time being in India with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He had been wounded earlier in the war by shrapnel and had also been in hospital with fever. When he left the army he retired with the rank of Sergeant, in civilian life he was employed at Stourport station.

Source for additional information: Kidderminster Shuttle 19th August 1916, Kidderminster Times, 26th August 1916, reported with photo.

Early in the morning of 20th July 1916, the 10th Royal Welsh Fusiliers were involved in a fruitless attack on Delville Wood, as part of 76th Brigade, 3rd Division.

An obituary for Charles Henry Dunford appears in the Stourport Parish Magazine for December 1916.

The following information has been researched by and is courtesy of Tim Moreman:
Charles Henry Dunford was born about 1885 in Wedmore, the son of Nehemiah Dunford (1853-1898) and his wife Hannah (1854-1940) nee Dowling. The family had close connections with Theale, but following her husband’s death, Hannah set up home at Glanville Lodge, Glanville Road in Wedmore. Charles had two brothers – Frederick (who died in 1900) and Herbert – and five sisters – Sarah, Beatrice, Kate, Edith and Elsie. It is likely that Charles Dunford was educated at Wedmore Board School before leaving Somerset to find work. In 1901 16-year old Charles was living at 5 Melbourne Place, Smethick in Staffordshire, with his Uncle George Pople, and was employed as a steam boiler maker.

18 year-old Charles Dunford enlisted on 18th August 1903 at Birmingham into the regular British Army, having previously served a year with the 3rd (Militia) Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment (a part-time unit made up of volunteers). The Medical Officer who examined the new recruit described him as being 5 foot three and five/eighths inches in height and weighing 122lbs. He had a chest measurement of 36 inches and had a fair complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair. A member of the Church of England Charles described himself as being a Filer by trade. On 28th November 1903 Private Charles Dunford was posted to the 1st Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers – irreverently known as the Birmingham Fusiliers since it recruited so heavily from the city – stationed at Lichfield and later at Aldershot. On 17th January 1905 he was transferred to the 2nd Battalion of the regiment on garrison duty in the Indian subcontinent safeguarding the British Raj. In late October he was promoted Lance Corporal, but early the following year reverted to the rank of Private at his own request. Dunford served initially at Agra and then travelled aboard the Royal Indian Marine Ship Northbrook to Burma where he served at Shwebo and Bhamo in 1908-09. Following his initial 3 years in the army, on 16th October 1905 Dunford extended his period of service by another 5 years. In 1911 26-year old Private Charles Dunford and his battalion returned to India and were deployed at Quetta in Baluchistan at the southern end of the North West Frontier of British India. The 2nd Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers returned to the UK late in 1911 landing at Portland in Dorset, where it formed part of the garrison. On 21st November 1911 Dunford transferred while at Gosport in Hampshire to the 1st Class Army Reserve, after completing 8 years with the colours, and returned home to Wedmore.

The day after the United Kingdom declared war on Imperial Germany on 4th August 1914 Charles Dunford was mobilised at Wrexham and shortly afterwards rejoined the 2nd Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers, which had just returned from training at Wool to its barracks at Portland and Dorchester. Since it had only just returned to the UK from ‘foreign service’ it did not initially form part of the British Expeditionary Force. On 13th August 1914 Private Charles Dunford landed in France when the 2nd Battalion was deployed as line of communication troops and then as part of the newly-formed independent 19th Brigade operating under GHQ control. It was involved in the fighting near Le Cateau and the retreat from Mons before taking part in the Battle of the Marne and was later held in reserve throughout the Battle of the Aisne. The 2nd Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers moved northwards with the rest of the BEF and took part in the ‘race for the sea’ and the defensive Battle of La Basee. Conditions were harsh in the hastily dug and water-filled trenches which made up the frontline. On 3rd November 1914 the 2nd Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers was occupying waterlogged trenches near Cordonerie Farm as the weather steadily deteriorated. Just over a month later on 5th December 1914 Dunford was posted back to the Depot located at Pembroke Dock having presumably fallen ill while on active service.

Charles Dunford was posted on 17th March 1915 to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers – a draft-finding unit stationed at Wrexham in Wales. On 28th April 1915 Dunford returned to France where he joined the 1st Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers, part of 22nd Brigade in 7th Division, which was undergoing final preparations for an assault on the German defences immediately north of Festubert. The 1st Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers attacked at 3.15am on 16th May 1915 – the opening day of the Battle of Festubert – with its leading company successfully entering the German front line trenches. Although the following waves suffered heavily, following fierce hand to hand fighting the Welshmen eventually penetrated the German defences to a depth of 1200 yards before being ordered to withdraw. Only l6 Officers and 247 Other Ranks answered the roll the following day. On 17th May Charles Dunford was promoted Corporal presumably as a result of the heavy casualties amongst its NCOs. After being rebuilt the 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers stayed in the Richebourg-Givenchy sector throughout June, July and part of August 1915. On 26th June 1915 Dunford was promoted Lance Serjeant. In a letter to his family (later reprinted in the Wedmore Parish Magazine) Sergeant Dunford described one incident in frontline life about this time:

My platoon officer and I had a bit of sport when the first night we were in the trenches. The Germans stuck up a flag in one of their trenches as a challenge for anyone to go and take it if they could; so the officer asked me if I would go with him and try and get it. Of course I did not say no! But I knew it was a risky job, as we had to crawl about 300 yards; so we waited until about 1 o’clock before we started.

On 5th August the 1st Battalion went into the line in front of Vermelles as preparations for another large-scale offensive – later dubbed Battle of Loos – gathered pace. However, on 17th August Dunford was admitted to hospital at Etaples suffering from varicose veins in his the left leg and five days later was returned to the UK for medical treatment. He was eventually posted back to Depot now located at Litherland near Liverpool.

The fully fit Private Charles Dunford – who had reverted back to the ranks – was posted to the 10th (Service) Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers, part of 76th Brigade in 3rd Division, on 23rd March 1916. This battalion – part of the third wave of Kitchener’s New Army (K3) – had been raised at Wrexham and after training had landed in France on 27th September 1915. It had served its apprenticeship as part of the 25th Division in the trenches during the winter of 1915-16 near Ypres. On 20th April 1916 Dunford joined the unit in the field as part of a reinforcement draft. The 10th (Service) Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers entrained on 1st July 1916 at St Omer in northern France for an unknown destination. It detrained at Doullens and then marched on foot to the Somme where a major British offensive had begun on 1st July 1916. On 4th July 1916 Dunford was appointed an unpaid Lance Corporal. The battalion moved up close behind the lines bivouacking at Bronfray Farm near Carnoy on 8th July where it rested, reconnoitred, trained and provided carrying parties for other units serving in the frontline. On 13th July they and the rest of 76th Brigade took up positions in the captured German first line and support trenches. It remained in reserve on 14th July when the rest of 3rd Division took part in the largely successful silent night assault on the German second line defences running along the Bazentin Ridge in the southern half of the Somme battlefront.

The 3rd Division was gradually drawn in to the fighting raging around the northern part of the ruins of Longueval and an adjacent area of woodland known as Deville Wood, whose capture was judged vital to establish a strong right flank for the British offensive on the Somme. This was an area of deciduous woodland about a kilometre square and divided by ridges running north-south and east-west. On 18th July elements of the comparatively ‘fresh’ 76th Brigade attacked northern Longueval and linked hands with South African troops fighting in Delville Wood – dubbed by those who fought there as ‘Devil’s Wood’ – although German counterattacks assisted by an intense bombardment later forced them apart and retook the greater part of the shattered woodland – by now reduced to a thick tangle of burned shattered tree trunks, tangled undergrowth and roots – from the remnants of the South Africans who doggedly clung on to a corner.

The Commanding Officer of 10th (Service) Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers received orders at 8.45pm on 19th July that his unit would advance through Delville Wood to its northern edge and relieve any South African troops left alive. To carry out this attack it would be led to the southern edge of the woodland and then deep into Delville Wood by guides from other units where it would deploy in jumping-off positions running along Princes Street (one of several rides running through the trees) to launch its planned attack. Simultaneously two companies belonging to the 2nd Battalion Suffolk Regiment would attack from the village of Longueval from the west. Owing to the close intermingling of units throughout the shattered woodland orders were given that no firing would take place. A slow bombardment of Delville Wood, however, would be carried out throughout the night of 19/20th July which would gradually intensify until the attack began.

At 10pm the 10th (Service) Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers, commanded by Lt.-Colonel A.M.L. Long, paraded and moved off in columns of four to its first rendezvous – a sunken lane running behind the line – without loss from enemy shellfire. Following a compass bearing it advanced across country and briefly halted behind a low rise for protection as German artillery and machine gun fire swept the area it had to cross. The battalion closed up in the inky darkness when the advance resumed and met as planned, a guide from the 43rd Brigade at the south-west corner of Delville Wood who led them eastwards into the wood and then 150 yards up the side of a ridge dubbed Buchanan Street (held by South African troops). Unfortunately the guide was clearly mistaken about where the forward German positions were located and his own location. In the words of the CO:

At this point our troubles began. Although, apparently, we were nowhere near Princes Street, we were met by a considerable amount of machine-gun fire: Verey lights went up a short distance to our front, and the Germans were heard shouting all over the wood.

Although the guide was adamant that the Welshmen were at the correct location, it was clearly not the case since the battalion had only advanced 150 yards from the southern edge of the wood. Unfazed the CO ordered his men to deploy and the 10th Royal Welsh Fusiliers advanced northwards on a compass bearing with a selected star providing further direction for the march to take up the chosen jumping-off positions at Princes Street. The Germans quickly reacted by sending up Verey lights and launched two counterattacks as the battalion slowly moved forwards; the attacks were beaten off with heavy loss. To compound the battalion’s difficulties, it became a victim of ‘friendly-fire’ when members of the 10th (Service) Battalion Essex Regiment, who had not been informed of the attack, opened fire on the advancing Welshmen causing heavy casualties and delaying the deployment of the battalion on the right alignment for the attack. When German positions were encountered the battalion came to a halt.

The 10th (Service) Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers attacked at 3.45am on 20th July 1916, albeit now on a very restricted frontage. Since the German defenders were fully alerted it immediately encountered intense machine gun fire and showers of hand grenades. Although C Company’s advance on the left flank was almost immediately held up, it pressed forward after being rallied by its officers. Overall the advancing British infantry, however, steadily became disorganised in the darkness and the line broke up amidst the shattered trees and broken ground after it had moved forward only a short distance. Casualties quickly mounted, including at some point Lance Corporal Charles Dunford. Fierce hand to hand fighting ensued that day during which two Victoria Crosses were won by members of the battalion – Corporal Joseph Davies and Private Albert Hill – for conspicuous gallantry. Owing to heavy casualties amongst officers and a resulting loss of command and control the attack was eventually called off. The badly disorganised 10th Royal Welsh Fusiliers, now split up into small isolated groups scattered over Delville Wood, eventually withdrew in dribs and drabs back to a line held by other units as daylight dawned. Others remained out in the shattered woodland all day engaged in fierce duels with nearby German troops. At 3.30am on 21st July the remnants of the battalion were finally relieved by the 4th Battalion Royal Fusiliers and withdrew from Delville Wood having lost 4 Officers and 33 Other Ranks killed, 11 Officers and 119 Other Ranks wounded. Sixty Other Ranks were recorded as missing. The shattered remnants remained in Breslau Trench, between Carnoy and Montauban, until 25th July when they marched back to camp at Bois des Tailles.

Corporal Charles Henry Dunford is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing on the Somme which bears the names of names of more than 72,000 British and South African troops who died in the area before March 1918 and have no known grave. A named 1914 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal, as well as a Memorial Plaque and Memorial Scroll were forwarded to his grieving mother Hannah at Glanville Lodge in Wedmore. Charles Dunford’s name is recorded on the tablet inside St Mary’s Church and on the Wedmore War Memorial.

Kidderminster Shuttle, 19th August 1916:
Lce-Corporal C.H. Dunford
The relatives of Charles Henry Dunford, of No 2, Canal Side, Stourport, have received official notification that he has been killed in action on July 20th. He had served thirteen years with the colours, part of the time being spent in India with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He was wounded earlier in the war by shrapnel, and had also been in hospital with fever. When he left the army he retired with the rank of Sergeant. In civilian life he was employed at Stourport Station.

Charles Dunford

Charles Dunford has no known grave, the photograph available shows his name on Thiepval Memorial.