Pte 86438 Edward Dukes

• Age: 20
• From: Birmingham
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• K.I.A Monday 31st December 1917
• Commemorated at: Hooge Crater Cem, Zillebeke
  Panel Ref: XV.B.1

Edward was born in June 1897 at  Nechells, Aston, Birmingham, the son of Benjamin Dukes and his wife Sarah (nee Whitehouse). His parents married in 1885 in Dudley, Worcestershire, where Thomas and Sophia (who died at age 2) were born. By 1890 they had moved to Nechells, Birmingham where seven more children were born: Beatrice (died in infancy), Benjamin, Joseph Wilfred, Edward, Frederick, Lily, and Elizabeth.

At the time of the 1901 Census the family lived at 7 Brough Terrace, Cook Street, Aston, with five sons. His father is an edge tool grinder, and eldest son Thomas, 15, works as a cabinet polisher. Benjamin is 9, Joseph 7, Edward is 3, and Frederick 1 year old.

Youngest son Frederick died in 1907 at the age of 7.

The 1911 Census shows the family living at 192 Mount Street, Nechells, Birmingham. His father, Benjamin, is aged 44, born in Dudley in 1867 occupation edge tool grinder, his mother, Sarah, is aged 45, born 1866 also in Dudley. They have been married for twenty five years and have had nine children of which three died. The eldest son Thomas aged 25, born 1886 occupation, french polisher, Benjamin aged 19, born 1892 is a rubber worker, Joseph Wilfred aged 17, born 1894 is a labourer for a contractor, Edward aged 13, Lily aged 7, born 1904 and Elizabeth aged 5, born 1906 are all at school. 

His father died in March 1915 at the age of 48.

He enlisted in Birmingham and joined the Army Cyclist Corps with the service number of 4101. Some time after arriving in France he was posted to the 18th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 86438. Edward was again transferred, this time to the 17th Battalion K.L.R. as the pension card shows his battalion as the 17th Battalion K.L.R., perhaps having only recently been transferred.

Edward was killed in action on 31st December 1917, aged 20.

The CWGC Graves Registration record, giving his date of death as 30th December 1917, shows that Edward was originally buried in Tower Hamlets Cemetery, Gheluvelt.

After the armistice, when graves were concentrated, his  body was removed and reinterred (and the date of death amended to 31st December) in Hooge Crater Cemetery.

Hooge Chateau and its stables were the scene of very fierce fighting throughout the First World War. On 31 October 1914, the staff of the 1st and 2nd Divisions were wiped out when the chateau was shelled; from 24 May to 3 June 1915, the chateau was defended against German attacks and in July 1915, the crater was made by a mine sprung by the 3rd Division. On 30 July, the Germans took the chateau, and on 9 August, it and the crater were regained by the 6th Division. The Germans retook Hooge on 6 June 1916 and on 31 July 1917, the 8th Division advanced 1.6 Kms beyond it. It was lost for the last time in April 1918, but regained by the 9th (Scottish) and 29th Divisions on 28 September.

Hooge Crater Cemetery was begun by the 7th Division Burial Officer early in October 1917. It contained originally 76 graves, in Rows A to D of Plot I, but was greatly increased after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields of Zillebeke, Zantvoorde and Gheluvelt and other smaller cemeteries.

There are now 5,916 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 3,570 of the burials are unidentified, but special memorials record the names of a number of casualties either known or believed to be buried among them, or whose graves in other cemeteries were destroyed by shell fire.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.    

His outstanding army pay went to his mother Sarah in April 1918 and after her death a war gratuity of £3 was paid to his eldest brother Thomas in 1920.

Edward's death was the second loss the family suffered. His brother Joseph Wilfred served as Lance Corporal R/192 with the 10th Battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps. He died of wounds on 05th April 1917, aged 23, and now rests in Lebucquiere Cemetery Extension, 5 miles east of Bapaume.

Pension cards for both sons in the name of his mother do not however, specify the amount of pension awarded.

His brother Benjamin joined the 4th Bn. Worcester Regiment and arrived overseas in June 1915, serving in the Balkans. He suffered a gunshot wound to the right arm and was transferred to Class Z in March 1919 with a disability pension.

His mother died less than a year after the loss of her second son, in November 1918, aged 52.

Edward is also commemorated in the Birmingham Hall of Memory.

We currently have no further information on Edward Dukes, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.