217987 Pte. Arthur Charles Dagesse Canadian Expeditionary Forces 22nd Battalion (d.15th Mar 1918) Pte. Atthut Charles Dagesse served with the 22nd Battalion Canadian Infantry.He was executed for desertion on 15th March 1918 aged 33 and is buried in Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, Lapugnoy, France.
Arthur Charles Dagesse was born in New Bedford MA in 1886. One month after the outbreak of war, Dagesse enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) on 23rd September 1914 under the name Dagasse. His conduct as a soldier started badly and continued in poor fashion; he had no fewer than thirteen convictions for absence and two for drunkenness.
On 4 April 1917, just before his unit's participation in the Vimy Ridge attack, Dagesse went absent until he was arrested in Paris on 29th April 1917. While awaiting his trial for this offence, Dagesse escaped and remained absent for five months before being re-arrested in Paris on 4th October 1917. When he was arrested for the second time, Dagesse was wearing the uniform of a Sergeant in the Royal Army Medical Corps.
Following his court-martial on 26th February 1918, Dagasse was found guilty of desertion and sentenced to death.
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