R. Doyle
Service no. 8024
Private, Lincolnshire Regiment, 2nd Bn.
Died aged 21 on 23 October 1916
Son of Deborah Doyle, of 24, Courland Grove, Clapham, London.
Remembered at Bancourt British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France

Robert’s Service records are extremely fragmentary. They show that he signed up on 13 August 1914, embarked for France on 26 March 1915, was in the field from 6 November, was attached to 179th tunnelling company in April 1916, and was disciplined for refusing to obey an order.  His effects and medals were sent to his mother at 17 Ely Place, Dorset Road. 

The 179th Tunnelling Company was responsible for digging a mine that was detonated on 1 July, the first day of the Somme Offensive, which lasted until November. It formed what is now known as the Lochnagar Crater. It is likely that Doyle was of short stature.

Information from the censuses

In 1901 the Doyle family lived at 25 Stewarts Lane West, Battersea. Lawrence G. Doyle, 28, was a general labourer born in Pimlico. Deborah Doyle, 29, was born in Lambeth. Robert Doyle, 7, and Margaret Doyle, 2, were born in Lambeth. Deborah Doyle, 6 months, was born in Battersea.

In 1911 the family lived at 105 Hartington Road, SW8. The census form shows that Lawrence was now a house painter and builder. (He gives his name as Laurence, and as the form was completed by the householder himself, this is presumably the correct spelling. However, other names are mispelled (“Lambert” for Lambeth, “Deborh” for Deborah and so on), so his general grasp of spelling was probably not strong.) The children in the house were
Margaret Doyle, 12
“Deborh” Doyle, 10
Kateleen Doyle, 7
Magderleen Doyle, 5
Victoria Aderlade Doyle, 2
(The latter 3 were born in Pimlico)
Robert does not appear on the 1911 census for this address.

H. R. Dooley
Service no. 701393
Private, London Regiment, 1st/23rd Battalion
Died age 22 on 16 September 1916
Son of Richard and Mary Dooley, of 4 Smedley Street, Larkhall Lane, Clapham, London.
Remembered at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920

Henry Richard Dooley joined the Territorial Force on 25 May 1915 at Clapham Junction. He described himself as a plumber’s mate. The Army described him as 20 years old, 6 feet and a half-inch tall, weighing 164 pounds (11½ stone) with a 36 inch chest, which he could expand by 2½ inches. His physical development was judged to be “good”. The Army must have been very happy to receive into its ranks such a strapping young man.

The Army perhaps was not so pleased when Dooley started to go sick and then to challenge the authority of his superior officers. After a period at Home (in England) that ended on 26 October, he was shipped to France. On the 5 February 1916 he reported with “pyrexia” (this means that he was running a fever) and lumbago (pain of the lower back). Just 2 days later he was complaining of something “N.Y.D.” (not yet diagnosed), and on 24 February he had myalgia (muscle pain), after which he was sent back to his unit. The record states that on 27 February he was sent to “join the Base Depot (T.B.)”. It is unclear whether this means that Dooley was suffering from tuberculosis. Whatever, the situation, he rejoined his unit on 15 April and by 25 June he was in trouble for using “improper language to an N.C.O. [non-commissioned officer]”. The punishment is recorded but is difficult to read (the record has suffered water damage).

Not long afterwards, on 2 August Dooley was again in trouble, this time more seriously. He was tried by F.G.C.M. (Field General Court Martial) on 2 counts: using insubordinate language to his superior officer and disobeying an order given by his superior officer. He was found guilty and sentenced to a year’s hard labour which was almost immediately commuted to 3 months. The Army, after all, needed all available men at the front. He did not complete his sentence. On 16 September he was missing , “death being presumed”. He had served a total of 1 year and 115 days.

Information from the 1911 census

Henry Richard Dooley’s parents were from Ireland. Richard Dooley, 64, was a pensioner; Mary Dooley, 57, was probably a charwoman (her occupation has been scrubbed out, possibly because wives’ occupations were not counted). Joe Dooley, 19, a grocer’s boy, was born in England, as was Henry Dooley, then 17 and working as a plumber’s assistant. The family lived in 3 rooms at 153 Larkhall Lane, SW4. Richard Dooley signed his name with a cross (mark), indicating that he was probably illiterate.