ROBERT HARDMAN: Lewis Carroll's cousin and the strange story of the war hero and his disappearing memorial

By ROBERT HARDMAN FOR THE DAILY MAIL Published: 23:00, 8 July 2026 | Updated: 23:11, 8 July 2026 For more than a century, his mother’s heartbroken tribute stood vigil over the place her son died. And then, a few years ago, it vanished. Given the passage of time, would anyone notice if this memorial to Captain Francis ‘Toby’ Dodgson of the 8th Yorkshires – and a cousin of Alice In Wonderland author Lewis Carroll – had disappeared? Would anyone care about one more casualty of the Somme? As it turned out, they most certainly would. The result is a delightful detective story which is enough to restore anyone’s faith in human nature. And tomorrow afternoon, exactly 110 years to the minute after Captain Dodgson’s death, members of his family will join members of the Yorkshire Regiment, the local mayor and a modest Dutch historian who has now ensured that Captain Dodgson will be remembered in perpetuity. It was on July 10, 1916, the tenth day of the Battle of the Somme, that Capt Dodgson, 27, was last seen leading an assault on the village of Contalmaison. Though the brave 8th Yorkshires would capture their objective, they would lose 361 men, including 12 officers that day. Capt Dodgson was one of them. His body was last seen where he fell and his name was engraved among the 72,000 on the great Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme. (Years later, his remains would be discovered and reinterred in a nearby cemetery). After the war, his mother and brother, Philip – himself a holder of the Military Cross – were determined to find the spot where Toby died. There, they erected a memorial engraved on a granite post rescued from the ruined town of Albert. ‘In Memoriam. Francis Dodgson Captain Who Here Fell’ it said, adding his regiment and the date. And there it remained, though in 1962 it was moved a few yards to the edge of a nearby track to protect it. Fast forward to 2024 and it transpired that it had simply disappeared. Unlike official memorials, which are protected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the dozens of private memorials scattered across the battlefields of the First World War are not. It was on July 10, 1916, the tenth day of the Battle of the Somme, that Capt Dodgson, 27, was last seen leading an assault on the village of Contalmaison Captain Francis ‘Toby’ Dodgson of the 8th Yorkshires was a cousin of Alice In Wonderland author Lewis Carroll (pictured) Years later, the Captain's remains would be discovered and reinterred in a nearby cemetery His memorial said: ‘In Memoriam. Francis Dodgson Captain Who Here Fell’, adding his regiment and the date Fortunately, there is a band of devoted volunteers who keep an eye on such things. The Western Front Association is a small charity dedicated to preserving the heritage and stories of those who served on all sides in the Great War. Their European representative, Michel Admiraal, a former Dutch chartered accountant, now spends his retirement travelling all over northern France and Belgium checking on the state of the trenches and landmarks for the benefit of future generations. So when he discovered that the memorial to Toby Dodgson was no longer there, he started investigating. Lengthy enquiries came to nothing, so he asked the local mayor if she could help. Eventually, she heard that the granite post might be found at the back of a local barn. A farmer had admitted to moving the memorial as it was in the middle of his crop. ‘It was a case of misunderstanding more than anything else,’ says Mr Admiraal, 64, who opted for a diplomatic solution. He negotiated a new location for the memorial nearby, next to a road. This time, it would have a dedicated space and a commemorative fence around it to ensure that it would not go missing again. In a touching footnote to the story, the same farmer offered his machinery and his services for free, while Mr Admiraal paid for everything else himself. ‘I have tried crowdfunding in the past but it is so complicated that it’s just easier this way,’ he says, adding that he has now set up his own fund to support similar projects. The admirable Mr Admiraal has also paid for a church service and a band to perform at tomorrow’s re-dedication ceremony, while the local mayor is hosting a civic reception. ‘We are extremely grateful to Michel and to everyone in Contalmaison,’ says Captain Dodgson’s great-great nephew Philip Pollard, 70, from Salisbury. ‘It may have been 110 years ago, but Toby will never be forgotten.’