Arthur A Dyer
Memorial: Olveston
Regiment: Somerset Light Infantry
Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Private 16009
Parents: John and Mary Dyer
Home address: Tockington, Glos
Date of birth: 1898
Place of birth: Olveston, Glos
Date of death: 09/04/1917
Buried/Commemorated at: Arras Memorial (Bay 4.), Pas-de-Calais, France
Further information:
There were several Dyer families in Alveston, Olveston and Aust parishes in the last half of the nineteenth century and at least two families of this name lived in Old Down. John Dyer, a quarryman at Old Down, married Mary Smith from Alveston and they had eight children, Arthur was their fifth and final son. His eldest brother, George, also worked in the quarry but it is not known what Thomas, Percy, Gilbert and Arthur did after leaving school. Arthur’s sister May was eight when he was born, Mabel was born with the arrival of the new century and Dora arrived in 1902
When the call to arms came, brothers Thomas, Percy, Gilbert and Arthur enlisted in Bristol. On November 7th 1914 George E. Dyer, who also lived in Old Down, signed on, and both Arthur and George were assigned to the 8th Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry. Also serving in the army were George H. Dyer of Olveston and William Dyer of Littleton on Severn
From November 1914 to September 1915, infantry training took place at Leighton Buzzard and at Halton Camp in Buckinghamshire. The Battalion then embarked for France and was quickly involved in the fighting at Loos during the latter part of September 1915. On the night of the 19/20th December the Battalion carried out the first successful raid on the German trenches and the Battalion’s strategy became the Allied standard. At the Battle of Fricourt in July 1916 the Battalion suffered heavy losses but was seldom out of the line for more than a few days at a time
April the 9th 1917 was the opening day in the period of the war that was known as the Battle of Arras, which saw the introduction of the Bristol Fighter F2B into front line service. The 8th Battalion, under the command of Lt. Col. J. W. Scott and referred to as the ‘Fighting 8th’, had marched through the town of Arras and was in the vicinity of Feuchy. On that opening day, in concert with the 8th Lincolnshire and supported by the Machine Gun Corps, the Battalion was ordered to advance and occupy Orange Hill which lay about 500 yards east of the German trench system running due south from Feuchy. The troops set out at sunset and by 10.30pm had secured their objective, the fighting over this area of Battery Valley lasted a week. Arthur Dyer was Killed in Action that first day and his name is commemorated on the Arras Memorial with 35,941 others
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
Forces War Records and CWGC