Archibald Knee and Dorothy Beard: A Joint Great War Suicide

Using a Coroner's report from 1916, fieldwork, and knowledge secured from passed-down stories, 'Radical Stroud' led successive groups in walking the sites associated with this tragic mutual suicide. Archibald Clutterbuck Knee was a private soldier - No. 29386 in the 15th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment - stationed at Chiseldon. He was home on sick leave and should have rejoined his battalion at 9.30pm on August 27th 1916. He recorded 'that he would rather die than rejoin his regiment, my poor nerves wont stand it'. He was last seen alive with his fiancee Dorothy Beard on the evening of 27th August. Both were found drowned, having committed suicide, in the Iron Mills pond near Avening, Gloucestershire, on the 1st September. We investigated and mapped this tragic event using the available facts, and also recreated the story textually, visually and through performance. Around twenty people were involved in the walk, over one hundred saw the performance element, and a further one hundred special pamphlets were sold. The initiative was self-funded. The website link below showcases the information from the Coroner’s Inquisition, published on the 8th September 1916.