Role: Police Officer
Herbert George Dolley and his brother Leonard Ernest Dolley were the first and second Hertfordshire Police Officers to make the ultimate sacrifice in World War I.
Herbert was a gunner with the 48th Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery which were stationed near Brighton prior to embarkation from Southampton.
As Gunner 19963 he was in France as part of the 3rd Division of the British Expeditionary Force supporting the French Army around Mons. His battery consisted of four of only sixteen heavy guns (sixty pounders) the British Expeditionary Force had in France at that time.
On August 3rd, 1915 Dolley saved the life of a comrade who was suffering from a wound to the throat.
Dolley was killed on Christmas day 1915 when a barn he and some fellow soldiers were in was hit by a shell.
A letter Dolley wrote the day before his death read as follows:
“Dear Madam, I am writing to thank you and the school children of Hertingfordbury for the parcel which I received quite safely. I was greatly touched when I opened it and saw who it was from, and I shall treasure that little card very much; it brought back to my mind the many happy days I spent at Birch Green Schools with my school chums, some of whom, I know have given their lives for their country.”
On his death, a comrade wrote to his family:
“Dear Mrs Leslie, I am enclosing a letter and card from Gunner Dolley. The latter was, I think, meant for you. I am exceedingly sorry to say that he was killed by a shell on Christmas Day. He was my groom and one of the best of fellows, besides being a good soldier, and I thought you would probably care to have the card back.
Gunner Dolley gave his life in trying to save two men who were asleep in a barn. He left the cellar in which he had taken cover to wake these men up, but a shell hit the building while he was there and killed all three. I am exceptionally sorry about it because he was a man I liked immensely, and I understand he has a wife and four children.”
