Name
Arthur Garner
28 March 1894
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
27/05/1918
24
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
235576
Leicestershire Regiment
8th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 (Mons) Star, British War and Victory Medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
SOISSONS MEMORIAL
France
Headstone Inscription
N/A
UK & Other Memorials
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial, St John the Evangelist Memorial, Boxmoor, St Francis of Assist Memorial, Hammerfield, Not listed on the Hertfordshire Regimental Memorial, All Saints Church, Hertford
Pre War
Arthur Garner was born on 28 March 1894 in Hemel Hempstead, the son of Edward and Louisa Garner and one of nine children, although his older brother Ernest died when he was four years old.
On the 1901 Census, the family were living at South Hill Road, Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead, where his father was working as a Coachbody Builder running his own business.
Arthur started school at Bury Mill Road School, later transferring to Boxmoor School in 1903, leaving aged 13 to work as a Gardener. On the 1911 Census, the family remained living at South Hill Road, residing at No. 9 on the 1911 Census, when Arthur had joined his father and was working as an apprentice coachbuilder.
Wartime Service
Arthur had enlisted as a Territorial Soldier with the Hertfordshire Regiment prior to the outbreak of war and was mobilised as soon as war was declared, serving under reg. no. 2159. The 1st Battalion, Hertfordshire Regiment departed for France and arrived at Le Havre on the 6 November 1914.
In early February 1915 he was seriously wounded in the leg whilst leaving trenches at La Bassee, having been in action at Cuinchy. After being taken to a base hospital in France he was repatriated to England and admitted to the 2nd Southern General Territorial Force hospital at Southmead in Bristol. He returned to the front later in the year and saw action in many battles during the next two years, including the Somme Offensive, Ypres and Passchendaele.
The 1st Battalion, Herts Regiment suffered heavy casualties in the early 1918 when the Germans launched their Spring Offensive and many of the men that remained were transferred to other regiments. This was when Arthur was posted to the 8th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment.
He was killed in action on 27 May 1918 when the Regiment was in trenches on the bank of the Aisne-Marne Canal and the Germans bombarded them with gas shells. His death was presumed and he has no known grave. His name is commemorated on the Soissons Memorial, Picardy, France.
Additional Information
His father received a payment of £34 4s 5d, which included a war gratuity of £22.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.hemelheroes.com.
