Have You a Tiger In Your Family?

Rank : Private

Army Number : 19459

Unit : 2nd Bn

Biography :

Enlisted at Batley. Served with the 2nd Bn during World War One. Died of wounds in Mesopotamia 29.1.1917. He is buried at Amara War Cemetery, Iraq. Formerly 25292 K O Y L I.

From PastToPresentGenealogy:

By the beginning of 1915 the Dolan family had moved to Upton Street, Cross Bank, near to St Mary’s church and school. Later that year, on around 11 August, Tommy and his friend James Rush both enlisted, initially assigned to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI).1 This was a training unit based in Hull, and Tommy spent his first months here as a Private, Service Number 25292.

At Christmas time 1915, both Tommy and James were transferred to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment, based at Patrington near Hull.2 This was the preliminary to deployment overseas. In mid-January 1916 they left Britain, bound for Mesopotamia to reinforce the regiment’s 2nd Battalion.3 As a result of the transfer, Tommy received a new service number, 19459.

It was also around this time, on 16 January 1916, that he penned his will in his Army Service Pay Book, indicating that in the event of his death all of his property and effects were to be left to his mother. This informal will, written whilst in actual military service, would later be recognised as constituting a valid will in accordance with War Department regulations.

Mesopotamia equates roughly to modern Iraq, but in this period it was a Turkish-controlled province, part of their vast Ottoman Empire. Turkey allied itself with Germany during the war, and this posed a specific threat to British interests in the area. For Britain had oil rights in Persia (modern day Iran), and this supply was now vulnerable to the Turks. In an effort to secure a resource vital to Britain’s war effort, with its oil-powered Royal Navy ships, in November 1914 Britain launched their offensive in the region, spearheaded by Indian troops. It would be a harsh, bitter campaign in inhospitable terrain.

The 2nd Leicestershires were part of the 28th Indian Infantry Brigade, 7th (Meerut) Division of the Indian Army. They arrived in Mesopotamia at the end of 1915. Within weeks they were already urgently needing reinforcements after incurring heavy casualties in action against Ottoman forces, during the first attempt in early January 1916 to relieve besieged British troops in the garrison town of Kut. By early March, Tommy and James had joined their new Battalion in the field, with the Kut relief attempts still ongoing.

The campaign in Mesopotamia is notorious for its appalling conditions. The extreme heat, combined with poor medical facilities, a lack of clean water, flies, mosquitoes and vermin, resulted in shocking sickness levels and death. Those wounded in battle were particularly susceptible. A region of few roads meant reliance on water transport, which in turn led to lengthy delays in transporting injured men to hospital.

This appeared to be the case with Tommy, though ironically in his case it may have prolonged his life. In March 1916, as efforts continued to relieve the beleaguered British troops at Kut, Tommy was wounded, and then went down with a fever.5 Hospitalised, it meant he was not in action on 6 April 1916 when his friend James was killed in action as the Kut efforts – which were ultimately in vain as the garrison was forced to surrender – dragged on.

However, the reprieve for Tommy proved only temporary. December 1916 newspaper reports about his brother, Albert, being invalided home for hospital treatment for a gunshot wound, included a reference to him being wounded in Mesopotamia. It is unclear whether this was a fresh incident, or if the papers were noting his wounds from earlier in the year.

What is clear though, is on 29 January 1917 22-year-old Tommy Dolan died of wounds. His parents received official War Office notification of his death in early February 1917. Following his death, his mother was awarded a weekly War Pension of 7s.

In addition to the St Mary’s War Memorial, Tommy is also commemorated on Batley’s War Memorial, his name being submitted by both his father and parish priest Fr. Lea. He was also awarded the Victory and British War Medals.

His brother, Albert, survived the war.

Place of Birth : & Batley & Yorkshire

Date of Death : 29.1.1917

Place of Death : & & Mesopotamia

Period of Service : 1910s

Conflicts : WW1

Places Served : & & Mesopotamia