Tales from the Front (9)

Genealogical war memorials of Bournemouth’s fallen.

La Bassee: October 12th, 1914

Introduction

Tales from the Front (9) tells the story of William James Franklin, Bournemouth-born, who fought in the Great War. A postman, serving with the 1st Dorsetshire Battalion, Lance-Corporal Franklin fell on October 12th, 1914, at La Bassee. This occurred during a period of intense fighting when his battalion received a mauling.

Tales from the Front (9): Part 1

A familiar scene

The landscape at La Bassee, near Armentieres, might have looked familiar to veterans of the second day at Mons. Franklin would have encountered factories scattered across various villages and seen a nearby canal. While the buildings offered shelter from machine-gun bullets, a direct hit from an artillery shell could kill all occupants. Navigating these streets might even have given him a strange reminder of walking through Bournemouth with the day’s mail. By this point, the conflict had settled into a steady pattern that persisted until the end: unceasing battles dragging soldiers through muddy ground, only for them to surrender it back to the enemy later that same day. Ypres and its surroundings became a key focus for the British. At La Bassee, threats manifested in many forms: one day, you might find yourself caught in crossfire from enemy machine guns; the next, the opposition might pretend to surrender.

Tales from the Front (9): Part 2

Many jobs

The family lived in Poole earlier in the century but later moved to Dorchester. Franklin’s grandfather had worked as a foreman for a tallow chandler. His father appeared to lead a varied life. He worked as a porter, a watchmaker, a caretaker, and a bailiff. Before coming to Boscombe in the late 1870s, they had lived at Maiden Newton, Dorset. His wife, born in Oxfordshire, a plumber’s daughter, married him in Bournemouth (1879). In the 1901 census, Franklin’s father worked as a caretaker for the Post Office, a building in the centre of Bournemouth. This connection may have helped Franklin obtain employment as a postman, appointed in 1909. This family, therefore, bore many similarities to those who had streamed to Bournemouth during the Victorian period. Often mobile, attracted by employment opportunities, and marriage happens along the way. Bournemouth, however, offered enough work for couples to settle and grow their families.

Unknown child

The 1891 census shows Franklin living with his parents and siblings on Gladstone Road, Boscombe. Although no trace of him has emerged for 1901, the 1911 census listed him at Bennett Road, on the Malmesbury Park Estate. His siblings had departed, but Franklin, then 27, still lived at home. Next year, however, he got married. His wife, 8 years younger, a labourer’s daughter, came from Corfe Castle. One child appeared in 1913. His wife had not produced the second when he left for France in August 1914. She would bear the child, a son, in 1915, months after his father’s demise. Franklin’s relative age (30) may have enabled him to gain promotion to the rank of Lance Corporal. The battalion’s losses at Mons, Le Cateau, the Marne, and the Aisne may also have created promotional opportunities for the survivors. In time, Franklin might have become an officer.

Tales from the Front (9): Part 3

The sad day

On October 12th, the Dorsets’ A Company occupied a brewery on the south side of the canal. D Company went into the houses on its north side. They placed a machine-gun on the first floor of a big, unfinished factory. This gun enabled them to discourage attacks coming from the brickfields and the area around Quinchy, a German stronghold. Then, a disaster. Major Roper, advancing, received a headshot, dying almost straight away. The regimental history thought this a great loss to both the battalion and the army. Some thought him marked down for greater responsibility. By mid-afternoon, half the battalion had reached eastwards to Givenchy, while the remaining two companies withdrew to maintain control of the canal bridge. The 1st Dorsetshires had had a difficult day. They incurred casualties almost at the same level as at Mons, their worst encounter. James William Franklin fell with ten others.

Aftermath

The press called the action ‘stubborn fighting’ and a ‘violent offensive’. In December 1914, the family received a gratuity of over £80 from the Post Office. His widow had remarried by 1921, but Franklin’s two children lived in separate addresses according to the census. Their daughter lived with her maternal grandparents, while her brother continued to reside with his mother and her second husband. This boy later emigrated to the USA. A nephew would die in 1942, a POW slaving in the Okinoyama gold mines.

The next day, the Dorsets lost even more. Over fifty died, and three times as many received wounds. On the 14th, the remnants of three companies sufficed to form just one. In November, they moved northwards to the area of Ploegsteert Wood and Messines. They found occupation in an activity of increasing frequency: entrenchment. Days of quiet and inaction followed. Fighting lapsed into artillery duels.

Takeaway

Tales from the Front (9) has explored the life, world, and military service of William James Franklin (1884-1914). A postal worker, he joined the 1st Battalion, Dorset Regiment, coming with them to France in August 1914. He would have fought at Mons, Le Cateau, the Marne, and the Aisne, but fell during the slaughter of his battalion at La Bassee on October 12th, 1914. 

‘Tales from the Front’

A collection of personal stories honouring the Bournemouth natives who gave their lives on the battlefield and the regiments with which they served. Blending social and military history with genealogical insight, it explores their roots, families, occupations, and the ultimate sacrifices they made for their country.

Set against the backdrop of regimental war diaries and enriched by period media accounts, the series offers a powerful and intimate portrait of Bournemouth’s wartime heroes — a mosaic of personal courage within the broader sweep of history.

Serving as a companion and continuation of Victorian Bournemouth, Tales from the Front forms part of News from the Past: History for the Rest of Us.

References

For references and engagement, please get in touch. Main primary sources: here and here (subscriptions needed). For War Diaries, go here. See also here. The featured picture shows an imagined scene.