I am trying to trace the service record of private charles hodgson killed in combat on 17th july 1917.

Kind regards

Ian Hodgson

Ian,
Are you aware that Ww1 service records suffered severe bombing and fire damage in Ww2. The net result is that only about one third of the records survived. They are available on line, many with water and fire damage but there is only a one in 3 chance that the ones you want will be there..
Dave