Lieutenant Colonel Harry Vivian Robert Hodson Our two day trip was drawing to a close and so, lunchtime baguettes eaten and the loo in a local café visited, our thoughts turned back to Richard’s grandfather Harry Hodson. After the battle of Mametz Wood, Harry assumed command of the 14 Royal Welsh Fusiliers on 18 July …
Tag: In Search of the Past
Aug 18
In Search of the Past – A visit to the Somme Part 4 by Penny Gerrard
Private Gilbert Sexton The first morning of the Gerrards and Hodsons’ Somme trip had been spent finding graves and memorials to Richard Hodson’s family members. Now, well-fed and watered after our omelette lunch at a typical French tabac, we were up for our next challenge – this time to find the site at Fromelles where Francis’ …
Aug 11
In Search of the Past – A visit to the Somme – Part 3 by Penny Gerrard
Captain Walter Basil Haddon-Smith The Gerrards and the Hodsons had successfully tracked down the first of Richard’s family members and so onwards on the next stage of our journey – this time to find the Le Touret Monument to 13,400 soldiers whose families had no marked graves to visit. On this would be carved the …
Aug 04
In Search of the Past – A visit to the Somme by Penny Gerrard Part 2
2nd Lieutenant Robert Charles Hodson As I told you in the introduction to my story, we, the Gerrards and the Hodsons, had arrived safely in Lille and had prepared for our long awaited Somme expedition in May 2016. Finally we were on our way on the first day of our exploration, and were off to find the …