Second Lieutenant H F Dyer (1886 - 1917)

Harry Frank Dyer was the son of William John and Emma Dyer. He was born in Bridgnorth where his father was Baptist minister. Harry was educated at Bridgnorth Grammar School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He became a school master - teaching in Cardiff and, later, at Giggleswick School in Yorkshire.

Harry joined the 1/6 Bn Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment). He went to France in November 1916 and he died on 28th August 1917 of wounds - possibly sustained during the Battle of Passchendaele. He is buried at Boulogne (where there were several military hospitals).

Second Lieutenant Dyer, B.A., was awarded the Victory and British Medals.

OLD BOY NOTES
[Bridgnorth Grammar School Magazine, December 1916]
2nd Lieut H. Dyer, is in the 3/6 West Yorks. Regt. (Duke of Wellington's) and is now in France.

BRIDGNORTH GRAMMAR SCHOOL OLD BOY DIES OF WOUNDS
[Bridgnorth Journal, 8th September, 1917]
We have to report the death of Second Lieut. H. F. Dyer, of the Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment, second son of Rev. W. J. and Mrs. Dyer, late of Bridgnorth, now residing at New Barnet, Herts.
Mr. Dyer died on Aug. 28, at No. 7 Stationary Hospital, Boulogne, from wounds received in action on August 8. He had laid the guiding tape for his men, preparatory to a raid, and was returning to the trench when he was severely wounded in the upper part of the right arm by a bullet at short range. The artery was severed and the bone smashed, but at first it was hoped the arm would be saved. However, amputation became necessary about a fortnight later, and though the operation so far was successful, loss of blood and extreme weakness disabled him from throwing off the septic poison in his system, and this was the cause of his death.
His mother and father were with him at the end, having crossed over to see him ten days before, when he was repprted to be dangerously ill, and their visit was of much comfort to him. He was buried in Boulogne Cemetery, in the plot given by France for British officers and men, the last resting-place of so many who already have made the supreme sacrifice for their country and its cause.
Mr. Dyer was born in Bridgnorth in 1886, and educated at the Grammar School, where he gained the County Council University Scholarship, and afterwards was awarded, the "Careswell" Scholarship. He proceeded to Cambridge, obtaining an entrance sizarship at Corpus Christi College, and at the end of his second year was made a "scholar" of his College. He was not quite 21 when he took his B.A., and was bracketed First Senior Optimes in the Mathematical Tripos.
For several years he was Mathematical Master at Cardiff, and then at Giggleswick School, Yorks., where, in the words of the Headmaster, "by his keen and and conscientious discharge of his duties, his thorough understanding of boys, and his affection for them, his delightful sense of humour, and his high standard of life, he made himself a home in the hearts of all in the School."
While at Giggleswick, just as the war began, he was gazetted for the O.T.C., and rendered useful military service. But early in 1916 he got transferred to the fighting force, under an urgent sense of duty, and went out to the Front last November. His O.C. writes of him as "one of my best Officers," and the Captain of his Company bears unstinting testimony to his loyalty and courage, his quiet cheeriness, and the esteem in which he was held by the men under his command, his sterling worth and character, marking him out for future distinction if his life had been spared.

Raw notes