Henry, always known as Jack, was born in 1893 to Kate Clara and Thomas Henry D’Hooghe, my great-grandparents.
As was the way with large late Victorian families, he had two brothers, Philip James (my grandfather) and Leonard, and five sisters, one of whom died in infancy. The family lived at 69 Robin Hood’s Chase in Nottingham.
According to family folklore, as Thomas and Clara’s family grew, Jack went to live with his grandparents but he remained close to his family and in particular to his youngest sister, Florence Ivy who again, was known by the family as Kitty.
When war was declared in August 1914, there was an initial clamour to enlist in the army and although Jack’s service papers have not survived, Philip James’ have. My grandfather enlisted on 2nd September 1914 aged 17 – he lied about his year of birth by adding two years to his age – and therefore, I believe that his elder brother, Jack, would have enlisted at the same time, as both men are recorded as joining the Hussars Of The Line.
My grandfather became 17964 Private P J D’Hooghe of the 20th Hussars and Jack is recorded as 12485 Hussars Of The Line, but those surviving records that exist for Jack are after he had transferred to the Suffolk regiment. More about that later.
However, I have a post card from Jack to his father Thomas Henry, which reads;
Dear Dad,
You must excuse me for not writing before. I was very pleased to receive your letters.
We have got all A Squadron horses bad with Strangles. Have been on the wooden horse with the sword and sticking a bag filled with straw.
This is the full dress [uniform, referring to the picture on the card]
Your loving son
Jack.
On the reverse of the card is a Trooper of the 8th Hussars in Review Order. I therefore deduce, that Jack was posted to the 8th Hussars in autumn 1914.
Jack’s Medal Index Card (MIC) has survived, albeit with his surname spelt incorrectly, and this shows that he arrived in France on 29th June 1915. His MIC only records his service with the Suffolk Regiment and further research has revealed that Jack served as a Lance Corporal in the 7th (Service) Battalion as part of 12th (Eastern) Division.
The 7th Suffolks arrived in France on 30th May 1915, and therefore I can only surmise that Jack applied for a transfer to the infantry and joined this battalion as a private a month later, where upon he was eventually promoted Lance Corporal.
He will have seen front line service at Ploegsteert before taking part in the Battle of Loos and being in action near to the Hohenzollern Redoubt on 2nd 8th and 13th October 1915. The battalions of the 12th (Eastern) Division remained in the Auchy-Hulluch sector until April 1916 when they were relieved and moved to the rear to rest and refit.
By 18th June 1916, the battalion had moved to the Somme in readiness for the ‘big push’. After the disastrous opening day on 1st July 1916, when the British suffered some 57,000 casualties, units of the 12th Division including the 7th Suffolks attacked the fortified village of Ovillers at 3.15am on the 3rd July.
The Battalion War Diary states; ‘The first 4 waves (D and C Companies) penetrated to the enemy’s third line and portions of them into the village itself, but owing to the darkness touch was lost wit succeeding waves and with the 5th Royal Berks on the right, so that the leading waves were not supported closely enough, thus allowing the Germans to get in between the waves and cut off the leading ones at the third line of resistance, it was at this third German line that the chief casualties occurred, and the assault was brought to a standstill.
The casualties in the Battalion were 21 Officers and 458 Other ranks killed, wounded or missing.’
It was during this attack that Jack was posted as missing and later as killed in action. His body was never identified and today he is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial.
In the CWGC Ovillers Cemetery, there are a number of headstones that read ‘An Unknown Soldier of the Suffolk Regiment. 3rd July 1916.’
It is likely that Jack lies in one of these plots but we will never know. My great grandmother lived until 1954 and she refused to accept that Jack was dead and refused to have his name added to any war memorial in Nottingham. I discovered her last resting place at Redhill Cemetery, Arnold, Nottingham and was amazed to see that Jack was remembered on her headstone.
In July 1916 my great grandmother initially wrote to the battalion asking for information. I have two very fragile letters from the Battalion Padre to my great grandmother and they read as follows;
