Lance Sergeant Sydney John Dawton

Personal Details

• 6283008 Lance Sergeant
• Sydney John Dawton
• 14 Bomb Disposal Company
• Royal Engineers

Son of Ooger and Betty Dawton: Husband of Madge Dawton of Hyde Park, Leeds. Died on the 3rd August 1944. Aged 36. Buried at Redcar Cemetery. Plot R Row 1 Grave 5. Incident details. On the 3rd August 1944 Lieutenant R. Stewart and Lance Sergeant S.J. Dawton were engaged in mine clearance operations at Redcar. A stray dog ran into the minefield and detonated a mine. Normally the dog’s weight would not have been enough to detonate the mine, however over a period of time the internal workings had become rusted and weakened. This one mine set of a chain reaction, about half of the mines in the field detonated. Lieutenant H. Beckingham recovered the bodies. Details extracted from Bomb Disposal British Casualties WWII. Chris Ranstead.