DOBSON, PTE DAVID EDGAR ‘ED’ – Regimental # 658066
David Edgar Dobson was born September 11, 1898, the son of William and Martha (Richards) Dobson of Dunchurch.
David Edgar Dobson
David Edgar Dobson enlisted July 26, 1916 in the 162nd Overseas Battalion, C.E.F. He sailed from Halifax, November 1, 1916 and arrived in Liverpool November 11, 1916.
On December 5, 1916 he was transferred to the 35th Battalion. On January 4, 1917 he was ‘taken on strength’ in the 4th Reserve Battalion and on January 31, 1917 he was transferred to 161st Battalion.
David arrived in France on March 8, 1918 as part of the 47th[1] Battalion and on March 10 he left camp to join his unit. On May 19, 1918 he was wounded, but he remained on duty (compound fracture of hand). On Nov. 1, 1918 he was wounded a second time at the Battle of Valenciennes. That wound required the amputation of a finger.
The battle at Valenciennes has been described by the Vimy Foundation as follows.
“After a general retreat through October 1918, the German Army decided to make a stand in Valenciennes, a strategically-located city of several thousand French civilians, and the last major French city still under German control. The German commanders believed that the Allies would not bombard a city full of French civilians, and further consolidated their position by flooding the area around the city."
On October 27, General Horne, General Currie and the British 22nd Corps Commander discussed the best way to take Valenciennes. They decided that they needed to take Mont Houy, a fortified hill overlooking the city first. The plan was for the 51st Division of the British 22nd Corps to take Mont Houy and press on to the sunken road (the “Red Line”) on October 28, then the 4th Canadian Division would pass through the 51st and take the “Blue Line” which included the outskirts of Valenciennes. Then on November first, the Canadian 4th Division would take the high ground to the east of the city, to allow the rest of the Corps to cross the Escaut canal and take the “Green Line”, which included the city….
The days preceding the attacks, as well as November 1 itself, had terrible weather, and when the soldiers of the 44h and 46th Battalions started out of their positions at 5:15am on Nov. 1, they did so under the pouring rain. The Canadians advanced quickly behind a rolling barrage, but were forced to put on their respirators due to German gas shells. German artillery fire, however, was weak, both as a result of the effective Canadian counterbattery actions of the previous days and poor quality shells.
The first Canadian platoon to enter Valenciennes from the west, advancing towards the Canal. Credit: William Rider-Rider / Canada Dept. of National Defence / Library Archives Canada / PA-003377
At the end of the day, the Germans were still in some parts of the city, but were pushed out gradually throught the night by the Canadian 12th Brigade. The 54th Battalion attacked the village of Marly on the morning of November 2, but discovered when they reached the village that the German Army had already retreated. By 8:30am, the Canadians were through to the far outskirts of the city and by the end of that day had completely taken the city.
David was discharged September , 1919.
[1] The 47th Battalion (British Columbia), CEF, was an infantry battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the Great War. The 47th Battalion was authorized on 7 November 1914 and embarked for Britain on 13 November 1915. It disembarked in France on 11 August 1916, where it fought as part of the 10th Infantry Brigade, 4th Canadian Division in France and Flanders until the end of the war. By war's end the 47th had lost 899 men. One third of the fatalities, 271 men, were killed in the last 100 days of the war.
WW1 soldiers Art Macfie, Edgar 'Ed' Dobson and John Macfie Sr.
Additional information related to Ed Dobson's service is below:
