Name
Arthur Worboys
1884
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
30/04/1917
33
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
23725
Bedfordshire Regiment
4th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
AUBIGNY COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
2.J.44.
France
Headstone Inscription
GOD LOVED HIM SO HE THOUGHT IT BEST TO TAKE HIM TO HIS HEAVENLY REST
UK & Other Memorials
Ashwell Village Memorial, St Mary’s Church Roll of Honour, Ashwell
Pre War
Arthur Worboys was born in 1884 in Ashwell, Hertfordshire, the second son of George and Lucy Worboys, and was baptised on 6 July 1884 at Ashwell. He was a pupil at the Merchant Taylors School in Ashwell and one of eight children but three had died by 1911.
On the 1891 Census the family were living at High Street, Ashwell, and his father was working as an agricultural labourer. They remained at the same address in 1901 at which time Arthur was working as a bricklayer's labourer.
He married Ethel Winifred Hines on 30 March 1907 in Ashwell and they had four children, Reginald born 1908, Stanley born 1909, Edgar born 1912 and Lucy born 1914. Sadly Edgar died aged 2 in 1914. On the 1911 Census the family were living at Spring Head, Ashwell, where Arthur was working as a farm labourer. He was said to be living at Guilden Morden, Cambridgeshire at the time of enlistment.
Wartime Service
Arthur enlisted in Ampthill on 14 December 1915 and joined the Bedfordshire Regiment. Having received his training at Ampthill Park he was drafted to France in July 1916 and served with the 4th Battalion. An article in the Hertfordshire Express on 12 May 1917 reported that he passed away at a base hospital from wounds received in heavy fighting on 30 April, [during the Battle of Arras]. His friends said that "he was a man of fine physique, ever ready to do a comrade a good turn" and that he'll be missed.
Arthur is buried in the Aubigny Communal Cemetery Extension, France.
Additional Information
His widow received a war gratuity of £5 10s and pay owing of £2 3s 9d. She also received a pension of £1 6s 3d a week for herself and her three children.
Arthur's brother Harold served as a Gunner with the Tank Corps and survived the war.
N.B. The Soldiers Died in the Great War list records Arthur's birthplace as Guilden Morden, Cambs, which is believed to be incorrect, although it is less than three miles from Ashwell.
Acknowledgments
Derry Warners, Brenda Palmer
Adrian Pitts, Paul Johnson, www.ashwellmuseum.org.uk
