Soldier Record
Frederick Charles Robert Dunn
Contributed by: John Waters, on 2008-11-06
| Rank | |
|---|---|
| First Name | Frederick Charles Robert |
| Surname | Dunn |
| Year of Birth | 1893 |
| Year of Death | 1916 |
| Regiment | Lancashire Fusiliers |
| Place of Wartime Residence | Bromley, Kent |
Frederick Charles Robert's Story
The third son and eighth child of Herbert and Felicia Dunn. He was born in Bromley on 8th April 1893. His secondary education was at Cranleigh School in Surrey, where he was a Probationer, which suggests that he was quite clever. He won the Middle Form Prize in 1908. He would have gone there in 1906 and left in 1913. His housemaster was Rev. George L. N Antrobus MA (Oxon).
Charles Dunn was my great uncle.
On leaving school, he probably returned to work for the family firm Dunn’s of Bromley.
He signed up for 3 years’ military service on 2/9/1914 in Westminster. He is reported as a Private on 15/9/1914 in the 18th Bn. Royal Fusiliers and was promoted to a commission on14/12/1914.
His medical report shows that he was in good health (very fit for duty). He was 5ft 7inches high and weighed 10st. 8lbs. (Small and slight by todays standards.)
He asked to be appointed to the same unit as his friend M. L. Chalaud. Whether his friend was appointed to the 11th Bn Lancashire Fusiliers is not known.
In July 1916, as the Battle of the Somme started, he was a Platoon commander in A Company of the 11th Bn. Lancashire Fusiliers. The signals officer of this platoon was 2nd Lt. J.R.R.Tolkien. Because of the losses, 2nd Lt. Dunn was acting Captain commanding A company - quite a responsibility for a 23 year old.
They were sent to attack the German positions near to the village of Ovillers and it was here that Dunn was killed. Tolkien wrote that he was shot in the head probably by a sniper. Such was the confusion that his body was never recovered.
As a soldier with an unknown grave, he is commemorated on the Thiepval memorial.
Back in England, his parents received a telegram from Buckingham Palace from King George offering condolences for the loss of their son. Unfortunately there had been a mix up in the War Office and the official notice of death had not been sent. It was only after a letter to the War Office that my Great grandfather learned which of his two sons had been killed on 9th July 1916. Their other son was killed 2 months later.
No additional memories have been submitted