As we reach Remembrance Sunday, this post looks at just two of the Brimington men who gave their lives – in the Second World War – so that we can enjoy the freedoms of today.
These two men are amongst the 120 plus who lost their lives in either the First or Second World Wars. They are amongst those who have their names inscribed on the Brimington War Memorial Gates on Manor Road, opposite Cotterhill Lane.
Frank Dodson
Frank Dodson was the son of Fred and Tereasa Dodson of Brimington. Attending the old Central School on Devonshire Street, he won a scholarship from there to the Chesterfield Grammar School in 1930. On leaving he went to work for Harold Berresford, who lived at Duckmanton Lodge. He joined the army at the outbreak of war, seeing service in India, but volunteered for the airborne division and was accepted.
1942 saw him marrying Robinson & Sons’ employee Nina Williams. Sadly, their marriage was short-lived. Frank died on 29 March 1943, aged only 25. He was serving in the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment (Army Air Corps). His parents lived at 45 Coronation Road, Brimington. His wife had probably gone back to her family at Pontryhydrun, near Pontypool at the time of his death.
Frank Dodson is commemorated on the Medjez-El-Bab Memorial in Tunisia, the Brimington War Memorial Gates and on the Chesterfield Grammar School Roll of Honour memorial board.
James Arthur Harrison
A former member, the late Peter Harrison, extensively researched his brother James Arthur Harrison, of 65 Cotterhill Lane and privately published his ‘In memory of a brother…’ book in 2012.
James Arthur Harrison was born on 27 December 1920. He was the third son and fourth child of Lamech and Dorothy Harrison of 65 Cotterhill Lane. Known as ‘Curly’ he also won a scholarship to the grammar school, from where he left in 1938 to become a wages clerk at Sheepbridge Stokes. He was later a member of the Home Guard, volunteering for the RAF in January 1942. Part of his training was in Canada, but he returned to England in October 1943, joining 17 Operational Training Unit at RAF Silverstone in Northamptonshire.
Posted to 619 Squadron as a navigator, Curly reached flight sergeant rank, but was sadly killed on 6 November 1944. He had been involved in the attack on the Dortmund-Elms canal and its junction with the Mittelland canal in Lower Saxony. At the time he was flying Lancaster bombers from RAF Strubby in Lincolnshire as part of number 5 Group Bomber Command.
He is commemorated on the RAF Memorial at Runnymede, the Brimington War Memorial Gates and on the Chesterfield Grammar School Roll of Honour memorial board.
These are just two of the local people who gave their lives so that we can enjoy the freedoms of today. We will remember them.
Further details about those from Brimington who gave their lives in the two world wars can be found on the Brimington Memorial website here.
Our thanks to the Old Cestrefedians’ Trust and to the late Peter Harrison for the use of information and illustrations in this post.
Brimington and Tapton Local History Group 