421911 Acting Corporal Robert "Bob" Dawson Corran 3rd Field Survey Company, Royal Engineers.
- Amanda T
- May 24, 2020
- 3 min read
Identification
The CWGC database had only one R D Corran and research showed that he was from Liverpool.
Family information
Born in Liverpool in 1894 to parents Robert Corran and Helen Corran (formerly Dawson) he was baptised on 4th Dec that year in Holy Trinity Parish Church, Toxteth Park. The family address on the baptism record was 74 Upper Hill Street and Robert Senior's occupation was stevedore. (A stevedore is a dock worker who loads and unloads ships)
The 1901 census shows the family were living at 5 Great George Street. Robert was still a stevedore and his wife (listed as Ellen) was a 'sweet confectioner dealer.' They had three sons, our soldier was the eldest at 6 with younger brothers Arthur E aged 4 and George W aged 2 months. and one servant a 29-year old widow named Harriet E Austin.
The 1911 census shows that Robert Senior had taken over his wife's job, he was listed here as a 'retail confectioner shopkeeper'. Helen was not working and the census return shows they had been married for 18 years and had not lost any of their 6 children. Robert Dawson Corran was 16 years old and working as a Clerk for a barrister. Arthur E was 14, George W 10, Albert Jesse 9, Fred a 6 and Helen 3 years old. Louise Corran a 'relative' and assistant shopkeeper was also living with them. They had moved to 119 Great George St and stated that they worked at home so probably were living over their shop.
At the time of his death, Robert was engaged to Miss Edie Rutherglen.
Military Information
Robert D Corran's service papers have not survived so we know little about his service. His medal roll entry shows that he served as a private in the Liverpool Regiment with the number 2289 then in the Liverpool Regiment as acting corporal with the number 240630 and also as an acting corporal with the Royal Engineers number 431911.
The change from 2289 to 240630 in the Liverpool Regiment shows that he was a member of the 6th King’s Liverpool Regiment, a Territorial Force Battalion. The Territorial Force were renumbered in early 1917 from 4-digit to 6-digit numbers and 240630 is in the block of numbers allocated to the 6th Battalion, the Liverpool Rifles.
The medal index card shows that he received the1915 star as a private with the Kings Liverpool Regiment as he first entered the theatre of war (Western Europe) with this regiment on 25th February 1915. This matches the date the 6th Battalion arrived at Le Havre.
He also received the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. The card also records that he died of wounds 19th Sept 1918.
Records show that he was in the 3rd Field Survey Company at the time of his death. The Field Survey Companies were set up in 1916 as the need for maps became vital as the artillery couldn’t see what they were aiming at. The Field Survey Companies were generally composed of men with specific skills for photography, surveying and drawing but they developed new skills such as flash spotting, sound ranging and kite/balloon observations where the men would actually be lifted into the air to look for the enemy. They were also responsible for printing the maps. At some points they were producing daily situation maps showing the enemy battery positions (eg during the Somme offensive 1916).
Death and Commemoration
Robert Dawson Corran was buried in grave I.A.3 of Rocquigny-Equancourt Road British Cemetery, Manacourt. His headstone records that he was a 2nd Corporal.
There are a few minor discrepancies about his rank and date of death between records. We can be certain that they all pertain to the same soldier as the regimental numbers all match. The discrepancies are small and can be explained by the difficult job of recording the field promotions, dates of injury and dates of death for so many men in this late stage of the war.
His family and Fiancée placed the following notices in the Liverpool newspapers:
25th and 26th September 1918
KILLED IN ACTION
CORRAN – September 14, killed in action, aged 24 years, ROBERT DAWSON (Bob) Corpl, R.E. eldest and dearly-beloved son of Robert and Helen Corran. 13 Howard-drive, Grassendale.
Mourn not for him, nor lay your heart within that lonely grave,
Think you those narrow bounds could hold that spirit pure and brave?
Earth’s uniform, discarded now, beneath the sod is laid;
He had his marching orders – as a soldier, he obeyed.
CORRAN – In loving memory of my dear BOB, who was killed in action September 14. (Lonely am I today, for the one I loved so dearly has for ever passed away.) – from his sorrowing Fiancée Edie Rutherglen, Grassendale Park.
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