Private Jesse Ogden aged 22
Private Jesse Ogden aged 22
Jesse Ogden was born on 10 May 1896 to Joseph and Mary Ellen Ogden and was christened at St Mary’s on 9 August of that year.
He had one elder brother Albert who died at Passchendaele in October 1917 (also commemorated on the war memorial), a younger brother Allan and a sister Rhoda.
The family lived a 4 North Ive House and Jesse’s father was a railway signalman. Both Albert and Jesse worked as Woollen piecers. Jesse’s parent were still living in the village in 1939 at 18 Applehouse Terrace with Allen now aged 40. Daughter Rhoda married Walter Wells of Thorney Lane in 1930 but they do not look to have had any children.
The war records for Jesse have not survived so we do not know for sure when he joined up but there is one document, the army register of soldiers effects where we can trace him. This document not only has Jesse’s name on it but also that of his father Joseph. This document tells us that Jesse was in the 1/1st Yorkshire Dragoons, service number 175832.
It tells us that he died on 3 March and that his father received a payment of £21, 17 shilling and 4 pence on 18 July 1919 which would have been his back pay and the war gratuity of £19 and 10 shillings. This amount of gratuity would suggest that he joined up in 1916.
His medal roll shows that he was awarded the Victory medal and the British medal, but not the 1914-15 Star, so he could not have been in the army in 1915.
The Yorkshire Dragoons were originally a Cavalry division, but the regiment was dismounted in February 1918 and became a cyclist division. The 1/1st Yorkshire Dragoons saw a lot of action during the war and Jesse may well have seen action at both The Battle of the Somme and the battle of Cambrai.
After the Armistice, the War diaries for the 1/1st Yorkshire Dragoons show that they were posted to Cologne. They were guarding two bridge heads crossing the Rhine and also acted as Guards for the 2 Corps Headquarters.
Jesse is one of two privates mentioned in the diaries as having died from influenza.
Jesse was buried at The South Cologne War Cemetery and is one of over 2,500 allied soldiers to be buried here.