John Dodd Noble (1875-1918)
Leadgate man served in Canadian Army
John Dodd Noble was born on 7 March 1875 in Leadgate, the first son and oldest of the six children of Greengrocer Thomas and his wife Sarah, who both came from Northumberland. By the time John was aged six, the family had moved to live in Oldham. Apart from Thomas all his other siblings were born there. At the start of 1904 John, who was working as a fitter in a textile mill, married Staffordshire-born Elizabeth Hewitt and they lived in Oldham where their three children, Edith, Thomas and Jack were born. Just two months after the 1911 census was taken John left England for Canada and a job as a fitter in Kingston, Ontario. There is no trace of Elizabeth and the children following him.
On 14 April 1915 John, aged 40, enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Hamilton, Ontario. He gave Elizabeth in Lancashire as his next of kin and mentioned his time as a member of the 19th Lincoln Regiment, a local militia group. He became Private 406373 of the 36th Battalion, which embarked for England on 19 June on the SS Corsican. Arriving ten days later, the battalion made their way to billets in the camp at Shorncliffe, Kent from where they provided reinforcements to the Canadian Corps in the field. John was transferred to the 1st Battalion in March 1916 and joined them at Easter 1916.
Shot in the buttock on 2 June at Ypres, he was initially treated at No. 13 Stationary Hospital in Boulogne, but was then invalided to England as his wound became infected. Transferred to the Canadian Convalescent Depot at St.Leonards, on his discharge he was transferred to the 4th Canadian Reserve Battalion based in Hastings. In May 1917 he rejoined the 1st Battalion in billets at Coupigny Huts, before moving into the front line. January 1918 saw Private 406373 receive a stoppage of pay “to make good the value of equipment lost by neglect” (£0-1-8), and in March he was granted two weeks leave in the UK, when he returned to Oldham to visit his family.
By April the Battalion were in the front line south west of Arras and it was here on the night of 5 April that Private John Noble and six other men were killed in a failed German attack on the Canadian lines. He is buried at Faubourg d’Amiensterre Cemetery, Arras.
Civil Parish: Iveston
Birth date: 7-March-1875
Death date: 5-April-1918
Armed force/civilian: Army
Residence: Leadgate (birthplace)
251 Manchester Street, Oldham, Lancashire (1881 census)
323 Manchester Street, Oldham, Lancashire (1891 census)
221 Manchester Street, Oldham, Lancashire (1901 census)
4 West End Street, Oldham, Lancashire (1911 census)
Religion: Church of England
Employment: Textile fitter (1911 census)
Family: Parents: Thomas Noble, Sarah Noble nee Dodd
Siblings: Thomas Noble, Lillian Noble, William W.Noble, Fred Noble, Harold Noble,
Wife: Elizabeth Noble nee Hewitt
Children: Edith Noble, Thomas Hewitt, Jack Hewitt
Military service:
19th Lincoln Regiment (pre-war militia)
406373
Private
36th Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
1st Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
4th Reserve Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force
Medal(s): British War Medal
Victory Medal
Gender: Male
Contributed by Jean Longstaff, Durham