Name
Arthur Bertram Gentle
19 September 1891
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
31/08/1916
25
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Rifleman
R/13924
Kings Royal Rifle Corps
12th Bn.
'A' Coy.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
DELVILLE WOOD CEMETERY, LONGUEVAL
IV. L. 1.
France
Headstone Inscription
OF LITTLE GADDESDEN, HERTS
UK & Other Memorials
Abbots Langley Village Memorial, St. Lawrence Church Memorial, Abbots Langley, Church of Ascension Memorial, Bedmond, Little Gaddesden Village Memorial, St Peter & St Paul Church Roll of Honour, Little Gaddesden, St Peter & St Paul Church Roll of Honour (2018 Revision), Little Gaddesden
Pre War
Biography
Arthur Bertram Gentle (known as Bertram) was born on 19 September 1891 in Bedmond in the autumn of 1891, and baptised in Abbots Langley on 1 November 1891, and moved to Little Gaddesden in about 1895. He was the son of Arthur George and Mary Ann Gentle. Arthur senior was a Gardener.
In the 1901 Census the family were living at 46 Little Gaddesden where his father was working as a Gardener to Mrs Denison (at what is now known as Denison House).
By 1911 he was living at Buxted Park at Uckfield in Sussex also working as a Gardener Domestic. Bertram and his brother Oliver became domestic gardeners like their father and on the 1911 Census they were both employed at Fairlawn, Tonbridge, Kent and were still working at Fairlawn at the time of enlistment.
Bertram and his younger brother Oliver attested for the King's Royal Rifle Corps at Tonbridge, Kent on 27 May 1915, Bertram was living at “Fairlawn” in Tonbridge, which was where he undertook his Medical Examination, and was recorded with “good physical development”. Bertram (and possibly his brother) joined the Army at Winchester the following month on 8th June 1915 and they embarked for France & Flanders on 2nd November, joining the 12th Kings Royal Rifle Corps on 7th November.
He was admitted to 61 Field Ambulance on 5th March 1916 suffering from influenza. On 31st July 1916, aged 24, Bertram was killed in action in a night time bombing raid at Guillemont on the Somme. His brother Oliver was by his side but survived and was later awarded the Military Medal. Bertram is buried in Delville Wood Cemetery, Longueval, Somme, France.
It appeared that news of Arthur’s death went unrecorded in Abbots Langley until February 1919 when the following information was recorded in the Abbots Langley Parish Magazine: “The name of another Bedmond man should have been added some time back to the list of those who died in war. Arthur Bertram Gentle was a native of Bedmond, and son of a Bedmond father and mother, and at the time of his death he had no other home. He belonged to the 12th Kings Rifles, and was killed at Guillemont on August 31st, 1916”
His parents and sisters Ella and Gladys later moved to Park Road, Colchester, and he had moved away from the area before the War, so this may provide a reason why the news of his death did not reach the village until after the War. Arthur’s cousin Harry and second cousin Lewis both served and their families remained in the local area. Harry joined the Royal Naval Air Service and was recorded in the Abbots Langley Parish Magazine Roll of Honour in July 1916. Later he transferred to the RAF, survived the War, and returned to live in Bedmond. Lewis was also listed from July 1916 serving with the Suffolk Regiment. He was reported killed in action on 11th May 1917, and was commemorated on the Abbots Langley War Memorial.
Arthur Gentle was buried at the Delville Wood Cemetery at Longueval on the Somme battlefield and was also commemorated on the Abbots Langley War Memorial. He was also commemorated on the War Memorial at the Church of the Ascension at Bedmond.
Additional Information
His headstone inscription, ordered by his mother, Mrs Mary Gentle, King Harold Rd., Shrub End, Colchester, Essex. reads: "OF LITTLE GADDESDEN, HERTS" His father received a war gratuity of £5 and pay owing of £8 14s 8d. His mother received a pension of 5 shillings a week from 6.11.18.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Roger Yapp - www.backtothefront.org, dacorumheritage.org.uk, hemelatwar.org., littlegaddesdenchurch.org.uk,
