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Rank : 2nd Lieutenant

Army Number : 3012

Unit : 1/4th Bn

Biography :

Educated Ashby Grammar School, Joseph Emmerson qualified as a colliery surveyor. He enlisted as Private 3012 into The Leicestershire Regiment at Coalville at the start of World War One in 1914, and served in 1/4th Bn. He was Mentioned in Despatches. From Acting Sergeant he was commissioned on 8.10.1915. As 2nd Lt was killed in action at the Battle of Hohenzollern Redoubt where he was leading a bayonet charge on the second line trenches during the afternoon of 13.10.1915, aged 25.
The 1/4th Diary records: "At noon our artillery started to bombard. At 1.00pm our smoke and gas started. At 1.50pm smoke and gas stopped. At 2.00pm artillery lifted and Battn assaulted the HOHENZOLLERN REDOUBT. Lt Col R. E. MARTIN was wounded early but remained in the fire trench directing operations for nearly 24 hours and until ordered to the dressing station by Brig Gen KEMP. All officers of the Battn either killed or wounded."
Joseph Emmerson is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, France. His WW1 medals, memorial plaque, and various documents are in the collection of Leicester City Museums Service. He was the elder brother of 2Lt Alfred Emmerson and cousin of Captain Jabez Emmerson DCM of the Regiment, and son of Jabez Emmerson, a Colliery Manager of Bagworth, Leicestershire.

This page was last edited on 20.4.2019.

Date of Birth : 1890

Place of Birth : Kiverton Park, S Yorks

Date of Death : 13.10.1915

Place of Death : Hohenzollern Redoubt, Loos, France

Civil Occupation : colliery surveyor

Period of Service : 1914-15

Conflicts : WW1

Places Served : France