Copeman, Hugh Charles

1862 - 1955  (93 years)

• Name	Copeman, Hugh Charles  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
  Birth	19 Jan 1862	Little Dunham, Norfolk, England   [2, 4, 6, 7, 8]
  Baptism	19 Jan 1862	Little Dunham, Norfolk, England   [8]
  Gender	Male
  Death	2 Jun 1955	Hapton, Norfolk, England
  	Parsonage
  Burial	2 Jun 1955	Hapton, Norfolk, England
  	St Margaret
  Person ID	I110	People of Hapton
  Last Modified	26 Jun 2023

  
  

  Father	Copeman, George,   b. 13 May 1818, Aylsham, Norfolk, England d. 29 May 1883, Little Dunham, Norfolk, England (Age 65 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Hare, Elizabeth,   b. 1821, Docking, Norfolk, England d. 13 Jan 1919, Little Dunham, Norfolk, England (Age 98 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	13 Aug 1857	Norwich, Norfolk, England
  	Cathedral
  Family ID	F36	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 19 Jan 1862 - Little Dunham, Norfolk, England Baptism - 19 Jan 1862 - Little Dunham, Norfolk, England Death - 2 Jun 1955 - Hapton, Norfolk, England Burial - 2 Jun 1955 - Hapton, Norfolk, England  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  Name: Hugh Charles Copeman. Rank: Lieutenant. Regiment: Essex Regiment. Date of Service: 1881. Born: 19 January 1862, Dunbram Lodge, Norfolk. Lt Col CMG DSO Major to Lt Colonel. CO for 1/4th Bn Suffolk Regt 22/5/1916 to 11/11/1918. In 1917 the Bn was based near Boyelles, south of Arras and were involved in an assault on the Hindenburg line. Made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George whilst serving as Lt colonel with Suffolk Regt The CO of 4th Suffolk, Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Charles Copeman, watched the chaos and the slaughter from a pill-box in which the Middlesex had made their Battalion HQ. He knew what was left of his men who hadn’t fled, his were being slaughtered out in front and he didn’t want to be away from them; “The ‘Old Man’” wrote Gibbs, “didn’t like being sociable so he would not even visit them (the Middlesex HQ) let alone take a few minutes refuge. He preferred to sit leaning up against a broken bit of concrete looking like a sphinx with shells falling all around him. There is no doubt that it gave him satisfaction to feel and to show he could stick more than anyone else. Anyhow, it pleased him when I said I was going to spend a few minutes in the Middlesex dug-out to pull myself together ‘I am staying here’ he said. “The suns come out.” At noon, the Suffolks at the strong-point were on the verge of retiring, when elements of 2nd Royal Welch Fusiliers passed through their positions. Here an orderly arrived from Battalion HQ to request them to remain and hold this position, which they did. As the day wore on, the CO tried to establish contact with his platoon commanders. Several platoons had not gone forward past ‘Lone House’ and had remained in the numerous shell holes around ‘Verbeek Farm’ Some had under heavy fire, retired close to ‘Glencorse Wood’ where they had remained, not knowing where Battalion HQ was. A tank had run out of petrol near the Middlesex pill-box, and for the want of a few gallons it could have turned the tide of the battle. As the light was failing, Gibbs toured the frontal positions as safely as he could, to see what could be done to further the advance. Every wrecked pill-box he came across was crammed with wounded and no-one could come out to get them. It was again, not a day of success for the Battalion. The weather and the extreme enemy shelling were certainly contributing factors to their lack of success, but found had been taken. Some sighted that Copeman’s poor leadership was to blame and that there were too many inexperienced officers in the leading platoons; a view that Gibbs later shared; “I do not blame anyone from running away, it was more than many people could have endured” but there is something that can never excuse running away of you leave men behind. Officers did this and they showed how the standard of officer had fallen since the Somme took so many of our best".

  
  

• Sources

  [S1] Ancestry.com, British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2008;). British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 [S68] Ancestry.com, UK, British Army Lists, 1882-1962, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2015;). [S55] Ancestry.com, UK, Poll Books and Electoral Registers, 1538-1893, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2012;). UK, Poll Books and Electoral Registers, 1538-1893 [S6] Ancestry.com, UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2012;). UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960 [S63] Ancestry.com, UK, WWI War Diaries (France, Belgium and Germany), 1914-1920, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2015;), The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; First World War and Army of Occupation War Diaries; Class: WO 95; Item: 2. UK, WWI War Diaries (France, Belgium and Germany), 1914-1920 [S69] Ancestry.com, UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2008;), The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists.; Class: BT26; Piece: 884. UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 [S18] Ancestry.com, 1871 England Census, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2004;), Class: RG10; Piece: 1595; Folio: 76; Page: 9; GSU roll: 829811. 1871 England Census [S9] Ancestry.com, Norfolk, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1915, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2016;), Norfolk Record Office; Norwich, Norfolk, England; Reference: PD 681/5. Norfolk, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1915