Captain T.R. Hodgson Army Dental Service

Hello everyody,

I wonder if somone with a subscription to ancestry or similar could look up a possible date of death for Capt. Hodgson:



128124 Captain T R Hodgson

Army Dental Corps attd 19th Indian Field Ambulance

home address: Stanger Street, Keswick

confirmed POW 11 Sep 1942

Camp in WO 392/21 is PG 59 Servigliano, Marche, Italy.

He does not appear in WO 392 /1 as being POW in Germany hence:

he died whilst POW or he escaped

He is not in CWGC's OFFICIAL RECORDS but they have told me that a paper in the grave of an unknown POW, exhumed from San Severino Marche Civil Cemetery and transferred to Ancona War Cemetery, contained the words Captain Hodgson.

Thanks,

Vitellino

 

Do you mean this man

UK, British Prisoners of War, 1939-1945
Name: T R Hodgson
Rank: Captain
Army Number: 128124
Regiment: Army Dental Corps
POW Number: 1241
Camp Type: Oflag
Camp Number: 79
Camp Location: Brunswick, Lower Saxony

TD

 

Looks as if he survived.
Casualty List 925 (Officers) shows him as POW. Previously shown as Missing on Casualty List 881 (Western Desert).
Casualty List 1772 (Officers) shows him as Previously reported POW in German Hands (Germany) now not POW.

Tim

 

Trying to find BMD records, in the meantime:

The Penrith Observer, Tuesday, July 28, 1942
Captain T R Hodgson of the Army Dental Corps, attached to the 19th Indian Field Ambulance, one of the twins of the late Mr and Mrs T R Hodgson, Keswick, is reported missing in the Middle East. After xxx (can't read) and a half years at the Glasgow Dental College he volunteered in 1939.

Possibly a brother
The Lancashire Daily Post, Wednesday, April 11, 1945
Capt W F (Barty) Hodgson, MC, Airborne Troops, who won the MC on D Day, and is the son of the late Mr and Mrs T R Hodgson, of Keswick, was reported missing last month, but has now written to his wife at Keswick that he is safe, but wounded. He was wounded and taken prisoner in Holland, but was only a prisoner for two or three days. British troops released him when they pushed into Holland, and he received attention from a British doctor.

William F Hodgson | ParaData

Dundee Evening Telegraph, Tuesday, November 9,1943
German Overseas News Agency today named Dr A R Duff, of Arbroath, as one of a number of British Officers with whom their war correspondent spoke when visiting a prison camp at Frosinone in Central Italy. Other officers mentioned were Captain T R Hodgson, of Keswick (Cumberland), and Lieut T M Park, of Glasgow. They had been "recaptured after they had been released by the Italians."

 

Recommendation for Award for Hodgson, William Frederick Rank: Lieutenant ... | The National Archives

Chasing through family trees, mothers maiden names etc etc the one person I come up with that seems to fit the bill is

England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007
Name: Thomas Robinson Hodgson
Death Age: 78
Birth Date: 8 Oct 1917
Registration Date: Sep 1996
Registration district: Birkenhead
Inferred County: Merseyside
Register Number: C24B
District and Subdistrict: 0371C

No Guarantee as yet

TD

 

Tricky, maybe but what about:

William F Hodgson, birth Q1 1921, Cockermouth. mother's maiden name Black
Thomas R Hodgson, birth Q4 1917, Cockermouth, MMN Black

EDIT Possible death now removed as believed incorrect.

Pure speculation at present, still looking.

Edit:
Thomas Robinson Hodgson married Susanna Black 28 June 1908, Crosthwaite, Cockermouth,
Still speculation

 

1911 Census, 1 Stanger Street, Keswick (same address as in post #1)
Thomas Robinson Hodgson, age 29, Builder, born Keswick
Susanna Hodgson, age 31, born Armagh
Harold Robinson Hodgson, age 1, born Keswick

From newspaper article Thomas Robinson Hodgson of Stanger Street died in 1936

 

Vitellino

EDIT: POST REMOVED AS INCORRECT

 

Thank you everybody.

I think it is safe to say that he didn't die on 26 April 1944, the date of death of the person buried under his name in
Ancona War Cemetery. I am happy with a date of death as above and the registration district as Carlisle.

Casualty List 1772 (Officers) shows him as Previously reported POW in German Hands (Germany) now not POW

Tim, do you have a date for when he was 'now not POW'? If he was in German hands that signifies that at some stage he had been taken from Italy to Germany following the Armistice of 8 September 1943, and this ties in with him being held in Offlag 79.

Vitellino

 

They would seem to fit nicely
TD

 

List 925 is dated 10 September 1942
List 1772 is dated 2 June 1945

 

OK, have started to put this down on paper and noticed that the birth dates for Thomas R Hodgson in my posts #8 and #10 don't tie up.

I therefore defer to Tricky's post #7 (should I have ever doubted him?) and think that a birth date of 8 Oct 1917 and death Sept 1996 in Birkenhead is the more likely. Looking at the probate records he died 15 September 1996, probate Liverpool.

Still trying to find something that would prove conclusively.

Sorry for the confusion.

 

Thank you TD and Tony56.

Much as I would like to know that exact date of Capt. Hodgson's death it is already reassuring to know that he survived and is not the unknown serviceman buried in either plot I.M.16 or I M.17 in Ancona War Cemetery.

The question I for which I shall never have an answer is: who used Capt. Hodgson's name instead of his own, and was known as such by the locals who buried him after he had been shot by the nazi-fascists?

Vitellino

 

I have asked if there is a liberation report.

 

I have been in 'conversation' with Vitellino on this on, so just to update everyone.

I created what I thought was a likely family tree for Thomas Robinson Hodgson of Stanger Street, Keswick, birth 8 Oct 1917, Cockermouth, death 15 Sep 1996, Birkenhead. There was a possible marriage on 27 August 1947 at Birkenhead between Thomas Robinson Hodgson and Joyce May Moyser (previously Rooke), of significance the certificate gives his occupation as 'dental surgeon'.

This additional information would seem to provide further confirmation that Captain T R Hodgson survived the war. Have previously shared this information with Vitellino.

Unfortunately is doesn't go anywhere to identify the unnamed POW.

 

Looks like they had 2 daughters

Susan C Hodgson 1947 Birkenhead Merseyside
Rosemary J Hodgson 1950 Birkenhead Merseyside

Theres also a family tree that confirms Tony56 details of DoB, DoD & wife

Cant find him onthe Ancestry 39 Register - thats not to say he cant be found on the FMP 39 Register

TD

 

Not able to find him on either site but may well be a closed record, or already joined up.

 

Hello everybody,

I now have the liberation report for Capt. Hodgson whose address was indeed Stanger Street (see above), who joined up on 6 May 1940 and was captured at Tobruk on 20 June 1942.

He arrived at PG 59 Servigliano after having passed through PG 65 and Sulmona (PG 78). He escaped from Servigliano following the Armistice and was unfortunately recaptured two months later between Alfadena and Isernia. He passed through various camps in Germany before arriving in Brunswick (see above).

So, the identity of the occupant of the grave in Ancona War cemetery who used his name will remain unknown,

Vitellino