Indian Civil Veterinary Department
William Orford DAWSON
Major
Died 30 December 1915 · Aged 46
His story
Major William Orford Dawson was the son of Major Henry Dawson, 14th King’s Hussars, and Mrs Elizabeth Kathleen Dawson.
He entered ‘class C’ of the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College, having already passed two years of the course at the Royal Veterinary College, London, and he qualified in 1894.
In May 1900, he was serving as a veterinary lieutenant in the Indian Civil Veterinary Department and employed at the Lahore Veterinary College when he was bitten by a supposedly rabid dog and was ordered to proceed with all haste to the Pasteur Institute, Paris, for treatment.
By 1915, he was a major in the Indian Civil Veterinary Department. He was aboard the SS Persia on its voyage towards the Suez Canal when the German submarine U-38 torpedoed it near Crete on 30 December. Carrying more than 500 passengers and crew, the ship sank in under five minutes with the loss of 343 lives.
Major Dawson was one of those lost at sea. He is commemorated on the Chatby Memorial, Egypt.
His death is mentioned in The Veterinary Record on 22 April 1916.
Before the war
- Nationality
- British
- Date of Birth
- 22 October 1869
- Place of Birth
- Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland
- Veterinary College and Date of Graduation
- Edinburgh - May 1894
Military service
- Last Rank
- Major
- Regiment/Service
- Indian Civil Veterinary Department
Medals and commemoration
- Name on RCVS Honour Board
- Yes
- Name In Officers who died in Great War
- No
Death and burial
- Date of Death
- 30 December 1915
- Age at Death
- 46
- Place of Death
- Mediterranean Sea near Crete
- Cause of Death
- Drowned in sinking of SS Persia
- Cemetery
- Chatby Memorial Cemetery
- Location
- Alexandria, Egypt
- Grave Reference
- Memorial Panel
- Commonwealth War Grave
- Yes - Memorial Panel only
Sources and further reading
- CWGC casualty and commemoration record
- Find a Grave memorial
- SS PERSIA
- The Veterinary Record, 22 April 1916 — cited in the earlier biography
Cite this biography
Graham Hodgkins and Pete Matthews, “William Orford Dawson”, Veterinary Virtual War Memorial, https://vetsremembered.org/people/william_orford_dawson/.
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