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Dieterlen , Robert Alfred (R A)

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Identity
Person No.
5710
Service No.
Unknown
Last Name
First Name
Robert Alfred
Initials
R A
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
30
Death Record
Cause code
DOW 2,733
Died of wounds
Cause of Death
Died of wounds, at Souchez
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Corporal
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
ARMY OF FRANCE 1
ARMY OF FRANCE
Notes

Son of the Rev. Hermann Dieterlen of the French Mission, Hermon, Basutoland. Born there, 30 August 1885; educated in France; B.A., University of Nancy, 1904; studied Divinity at Montauban Seminary, where he qualified for the ministry, and at Aberdeen University (Divinity, 1909-10); appointed by the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society to Barotseland, North Rhodesia. On the outbreak of war he immediately returned to France and joined his regiment, the 11th Infantry. He was wounded in action but as soon as he recovered, requested to be sent back to the Front. He was promoted Corporal in the 31st Battalion of Sharpshooters, and on 25 September 1915 the Battalion attacked near Souchez. In the desperate fighting Dieterlen was last seen severely wounded. He was officially reported ''missing'', and since the Armistice his death has been accepted. A devoted Christian, and a loyal Frenchman, he recognized at once the justice of the cause to which his country was suddenly called, and unhesitatingly put himself at her disposal. Having dedicated his life to the service of humanity, he found an equal duty and an equal glory in carrying the Gospel to the heathen, and in fighting enemies to those spiritual ideals which are essential to the progress of the race. In our University, of which he cherished grateful recollections, he is remembered for the purity and kindliness of his character, and for his keenness as a student.

Research notes


7 Sep 2026: Regiment corrected from "Army of France 31 Battalion" / Unit "Sharpshooters" to Regiment "31st Battalion of Sharpshooters" and Force "Army of France", per John -- he served in the French Army (11th Infantry, then 31st Bn of Sharpshooters), not the UDF; the ROH connection is his Basutoland/South African mission-family background.

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