Name
Oswald S B Dawes
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
08/05/1917
19
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Second Lieutenant
North Staffordshire Regiment
5th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
ARRAS MEMORIAL
Bay 7 and 8.
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
St Edmunds College Memorial, Old Hall Green
Pre War
Biography
The following text was transcribed from the The Edmundian (1814-1819) – The contemporary magazine of St Edmund’s College:
As each fresh name is added to our Roll of Honour it is more difficult to find expression for the mingled pride and sorrow with which we think of these young lives ended so suddenly at the very height of their strength, Oswald Dawes was another of those bright and lively boys, whose vigour, as we remember it, seems so incompatible with an early death. He and his elder brother Paul, sons of Dr. and Mrs. Dawes, of Denbigh House, Langton, Stoke-on-Trent, came together to St. Edmund's on 17th September, 1908, Oswald being then eleven years old. He left the College in December, 1911, to begin his training for the sea on the "Conway," which he joined early in 1912. Two years later he was appointed to H.M.S. Hercules as a probationary midshipman, but on the outbreak of war he became keen on joining the army. This he was enabled ultimately to do, and lie enlisted in the inns of Court O.T.C. in October, 1915. In the following Spring lie went to the Curragh to complete his training in the 7th Officers Cadet Battalion. At the end of August, 1916, he was gazetted to the 5th North Staffs. Regiment and went to the from. He was afterwards transferred to the 14th Yorks and Lancs. Regiment, and was bombing officer to his battalion when he met his death on May 8th.
In communicating his loss to his parents, his Colonel wrote: "On behalf of myself and all my officers will you please accept my deep sympathy for the loss you have sustained in the death of your son Oswald, who was killed by a shell during a heavy bombardment. You will have the satisfaction of knowing that his death was quite painless. He was an excellent fellow, dearly loved by the men under him, and I have heard them say that they would have followed your son any where."
A low Mass of Requiem was celebrated for the repose of his soul in the College Chapel by His Lordship the Bishop of Lydda, the morning after the sad news reached us. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to his bereaved parents, his brother Paul, and the family.
Acknowledgments
Jonty Wild, Di Vanderson, The Edmundian (1814-1819) – The contemporary magazine of St Edmund’s College
