Whatever happened to David Hampson?

I came across this story this morning when writing a biography of Second Lieutenant Thomas Eric Henderson, an officer of the 1st South Staffordshire Regiment. He lost his life when German troops attacked trenches that his battalion was holding east of Delville Wood (Somme) on 31 August 1916. Enquiries were made to ascertain what happened to him, and it is in this context that I decided to look into David Hampson.

From the service record of 2/Lt Henderson (National Archives WO339/36588, Crown Copyright). David Hampson, who had himself been wounded and was in hospital, made a statement about what had happened.

I was sorry to find that David had also lost his life some months later, on 29 May 1917 when serving with this regiment’s 8th (Service) Battalion. This Commonwealth War Graves Commission register from Bailleul Road East Cemetery near Arras says he has a headstone in Plot V, row B, grave 18.

Burial and reburial

I wanted to know about David’s burial, but records provoked more questions than they provided answers.

It is evident from CWGC records that David was not originally buried where he is now said to lie. He was brought into Bailleul Road East from Northumberland Cemetery, which according to CWGC was on the west side of the road from Fampoux to Bailleul-Sire-Berthoult, not far from Arras. This road was called Northumberland Lane, and a neighbouring trench was called Northumberland Avenue. The Northumberland Cemetery was used by fighting units from April to July 1917, and one other burial was made in it in September 1918. It eventually contained the graves of 69 soldiers, and these (except for seven, which were not found) were concentrated into Plot V of Bailleul Road East Cemetery.

CWGC records show that the headstone is inscribed to indicate that David is “buried near this spot” rather than where the headstone is. The list above shows that he is not alone in this. This is curious, given that he was brought into this cemetery for reburial.

Earlier records suggest that David had been buried in Northumberland Cemetery’s row G grave 2.

But in 1925-26 when Northumberland Cemetery was cleared – he was not there. Other men supposed to be in row G were also missing, despite wooden crosses having been erected at their supposed graves. The men buried alongside him, Ptes Clemenson and Reay, *were* found below their crosses in row G, and buried elsewhere in Plot V at Bailleul Road East.

Some of the men who were eventually taken to Bailleul Road East had not had an identified, marked grave at Northumberland Cemetery. They had been named on a single “special cross”, but the exact site of their original burial had become lost.

This report, regarding David’s reburial, is in conflict in that it says there had been no cross at Northumberland Cemetery. It also shows him as an unknown Britsh soldier at first, with his identity determined from khaki uniform, titles (brass regimental badge), and boots (a form of identification that CWGC no longer permits). Hardly a rock-solid case.

It seems at this distance in time and with no other facts with which to work, that the locations of burials in Northumberland Cemetery had become vague and uncertain; this does not however explain why their location once the remains were found and exhumed and taken for burial within Bailleul Road East should also end as the permanently vague “buried near this spot”.

So David may or may not be the man buried near a place where a headstone was erected in his memory. There are, sadly, thousands of such cases.

An early photograph of the constructed Bailleul Road East Cemetery, from “The Silent Cities” by Sidney C. Hurst (London: Methuen & Company, 1929). The records of David Hampson and others show that the reality of the layout of the burials is not as orderly as the above-ground level view would suggest.

“Died”

There is a second curiosity, specific to David.

David’s entry in the financial effects register (National Army Museum, via Ancestry) says that he died “of wounds accidental”. Unusually for this type of record it contains an error in the date of death.

The war diary of David’s battalion (National Archives WO95/2007) provides no clue as to what happened to him. It mentions that one other rank was killed in the day and that five orderlies were slightly wounded when thwir dug-out was blown in. David Hampson is the only soldier of the battalion to have an official date of death of 29 May 1917, so he may be the one other rank, but to be killed by shellfire suggests a different story to the classification of him as “died” or any accidental wounds.

The diary of the headquarters of 51st Infantry Brigade (WO95/2005) adds nothing of direct value but does have this summary of casualties during May 1917. Four men of the 8th South Staffords were wounded accidentally.

David Hampson has no surviving service record and he is not mentioned in any surviving register of a medical unit. Exactly how he came to die and be buried in Northumberland Cemetery is as uncertain as his final resting place.

Links

South Staffordshire Regiment

David Hampson’s entry in Commonwealth War Graves Commission database