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  #1  
Old 12-09-12, 08:48
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Default Who Do You Think You Are - Hugh Dennis 12th Sep

This evening at 9pm on BBC1. Actor and comedian.
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Old 12-09-12, 13:38
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As I have at least three lines of Dennises, I might watch - though it will probably turn out he's related to the truck people
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Old 12-09-12, 19:10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Phoenix View Post
As I have at least three lines of Dennises, I might watch - though it will probably turn out he's related to the truck people
I read this on my iPhone earlier and my eyes being not what they were read "truck people" as "thick people"

Anyway moving on hopefully it will be like last week's one more family history with more ancestors.

I like Hugh but I like him more as a stand up or panel comedian rather than a structured comedic actor type role in sitcom with a script.
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Old 12-09-12, 19:17
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I hear that he will be concentrating on the First World War relatives.
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Old 12-09-12, 19:43
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I remember going to see him in the Cambridge Footlights Revue in the mid 80's.
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Old 12-09-12, 22:01
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Very interesting
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Old 12-09-12, 22:03
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Nope, didn't enjoy it one bit. another history documentary, very interesting for him I'm sure...but not for me!

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Old 12-09-12, 22:11
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Episode Synopsis

Hugh Dennis lives in East Sussex with his wife and two children. He grew up in London, the younger son of John Dennis, a Bishop, and Dorothy Hinnalls. His parents met each other at Cambridge. Both of Hugh's grandfathers fought in the First World War.

John's father was Hubert Ronald Dennis, known as Ronald. He was born in 1899 in the village of Wales, near Sheffield. His parents were John Dennis, a miner, and his wife Edith. The 1901 census of Wales and Kiveton Park shows John and Edith with their two sons John W age 3 and Hubert R age 2.
1901 census entry on ancestry
1911 census on ancestry



Hugh visited Wales Primary School where he saw his grandfather's name on the Honours Board showing that he received a scholarship to grammar school in 1910. The grammar school was Woodhouse Grammar School which opened in 1909, and Ronald's elder brother John (known as Jack) also went there.

In 1917 Ronald joined the army. He joined as a Private but was recommended as an officer cadet and went through officer training at Cambridge, at St John's College which Hugh later attended as a student.

Hugh visited the Imperial War Museum to meet a military historian who showed him Ronald's army record. This showed that he arrived in France on the 12th Oct 1918, i.e. very close to the end of the war. He led a battalion who captured the village of Futoy, losing a lot of men. Ronald was wounded by fragments of a shell and was sent home. After the war he became a secondary school teacher. He died in 1990 aged 91.



Hugh then found out about the wartime experiences of his other grandfather, Godfrey Parker Hinnalls. Hugh's aunt Margaret gave him some information and showed him some photos, including one of Godfrey's brother Frank who died at Gallipolli age 17. Hugh had a look at Godfrey's service record online, and then went to France and Belgium to visit the battlefields. Godfrey served in the Suffolk Regiment when they were sent to Arras to bury the bodies of those who died in the battle there. His battalion were then involved in attacking the Hindenburg Line and in the battle of Passchaendale, where a lot of men died. He spent the winter at Popperinge where there is now the Talbot House Museum, which Hugh visited. In 1918 Godfrey served in the Lincolnshire Regiment and took part in defending the village of Wytschaete against the German attack. Only 86 men survived out of 400 in Godfrey's battalion.

After the war, Godfrey returned to his home town of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, where he got married and spent the rest of his life. He died in 1974.
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Old 12-09-12, 22:35
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Here is Hubert's medal index card:
medal index card

And Godfrey's:
medal index card
Godfrey's service papers are also available on ancestry:
Godfrey Parker Hinnells army papers
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  #10  
Old 12-09-12, 23:15
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I thoroughly enjoyed it. Particularly so, because one of my grandfather's was in the same places as his during WW1.
I watched it with my grandson who was unusually quiet after it finished. When asked why, he said "I wouldn't exist if your grandad had not come back, and that has just been brought home rather graphically. I am thinking about what he would have experienced"
I left him to be quiet with his thoughts.
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