Joseph Arthur Hodder

Rank:

Private

Regimental number:

27202

Unit at enlistment:

15th Battalion

Force:

C.E.F.

Volunteered or conscripted:

Volunteered

Survived the war:

Date of death:

April 24th, 1915

Cemetery:

Menin Gate Memorial - Ypres, Belgium - Panel 18.24.26.30

Commemorated at:

Holy Trinity Anglican Church

Birth country:

England

Birth county:

Greater London

Birth city:

London

Address at enlistment:

10 Superior Street, Brantford, Ontario

Next of kin address:

The Knoll, Bicknacre, Chelmsford, England

Trade or calling:

Labourer

Employer:

Massey-Harris Co.

Religious denominations:

Church of England

Marital status:

Single

Age at enlistment:

Image gallery:

Letters and documents

Circumstances of Casualty: Previously reported Missing now for official purposes presumed to have died.
Location of Unit at Time of Casualty: Attack in the vicinity of St. Julien.

BX June 18, 1915

Brantford Men Now Missing - Private Joseph Arthur Hodder

Included in a long list of members of the 48th Highlanders of Toronto, who are reported as having been missing between April 24 and 29, is the name of Private Joseph Arthur Hodder who formerly boarded at 10 Brighton Place. He enlisted with the Dufferin Rifles first contingent company, and was transferred to the Highlanders at Valcartier. At the time of his enlistment, Private Hodder was employed as a laborer at the Massey-Harris Works, he having previously been engaged as a grinder at the Cockshutt Plow Company’s plant. His family resides in Chelmsford, Eng. He is unmarried and had served five years in the Dufferin Rifles prior to the outbreak of war.

BX September 21, 1916

Private Joseph A. Hodder is Dead

That Private Joseph Arthur Hodder of this city is dead would seem to be evident from the fact that since the report of his being taken prisoner early in 1915 no word has been received from him, and more so because of this morning’s dispatches which mention his name as “previously reported wounded, now for official purposes presumed to have died.” Private Hodder was an Englishman by birth, well and favorably known here having been an employee of the Massey-Harris Company and a genuine good fellow. He left here with the first contingent of the Dufferin Rifles but was transferred to the Toronto Highland Battalion. After crossing to England his battalion soon left for the front and it was in the first battle of Ypres that Hodder is supposed to have been taken prisoner but as indications now point he probably lost his life.

BX February 12, 1915

Is Already at the Front – Private Joseph Arthur Hodder of Brantford, a Member of the Active Regiment of Highlanders

Writing from Larkhill, Salisbury Plain, under date of Jan. 26, Private J. Hodder, a Brantfordite, now with the 48th Highlanders, in a letter to Fireman A. Howarth, of the East End fire station, says:

January 26, 1915

This is my last letter to you from this desolate place, as part of the 3rd Brigade, in which our regiment is included moves to France on Monday, Feb. 1, perhaps sooner.

Last Sunday I was over to Bustard Camp and saw the 38th boys, they all look pretty good. One fellow died in their camp, Tommy Rose, a very decent chap for looking after the boys when the grub was doled out. I spent half an hour with them, and then had to get back to the ranges again, for we have been shooting all day long, from 100 to 600 yards, all to be done in specified time. One range was at 300 yards, rapid fire, 15 rounds a minute. There were not very many that got them all off. I put 14 home, and the fifteenth I lost in the grass.

Many Belgian refugees, once wealthy, tell me they have lost everything, and are practically homeless. The Germans have theirs to come, don't worry.