Name
Arthur Austin
1893
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
30/09/1918
26
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
25603
Bedfordshire Regiment
4th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
VIS-EN-ARTOIS MEMORIAL
Panel 4 and 5.
France
Headstone Inscription
N/A
UK & Other Memorials
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial
Pre War
Arthur Austin was born in 1893 in Hemel Hempstead, the son of John and Emily Austin, and baptised at St Paul's Church, Hemel Hempstead on 14 April 1893 with his older sister Minnie. He was one of 15 children but two had died by the 1911 Census.
On the 1901 Census the family were living at Union Square, Hemel Hempstead, where his father was working as a General Labourer. By the 1911 Census they had moved to live at 108 Cotterells, Hemel Hempstead and Arthur was working as a draper's porter.
He married Ethel Lavinia Field in Biggleswade, Beds in the late spring of 1916 and they were living at Arlesey, Beds at the time of his enlistment.
She later lived at Westfield Cottage, Station Rd., Henlow, Beds and remarried to Donald McVeagh in 1920.
Wartime Service
He volunteered in January 1916 and enlisted in Bedford. He served with the 4th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment and was posted to Felixstowe for basic training. He was, however, granted leave in late spring to return home to get married.
The 4th Battalion was a Special Reserve unit originally assigned for home defence duties around Harwich and used as a training battalion for new recruits, but losses at the Somme in July 1916 resulted in the 4th Battalion being mobilised for service at the Western Front. They were posted overseas on 25 July 1916 and were sent to Coupigny near Amiens where they remained until October before their first major action in the Battle of Ancre on 13 November. Although there were substantial casualties, Arthur survived and was then in action in 1917 at Miraumont, Battle of Arras, Second Battle of the Scarpe and Arleux, followed by the Second Battle of Passchendaele.
The 4th Battalion was again in action in March 1918 at the Battles of St Quentin and Baupame and again suffered heavy losses.
He was killed in action on 30 September 1918, age 26, during an attack on high ground south of Cambrai, one of thirteen men killed that day. He has no known grave and his name is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial, France.
Additional Information
His widow received a war gratuity of £12 10s and pay owing of £3 15s 1d. She also received a pension of 13s 9d a week. His widow Ethel remarried in 1920 to Donald McVeagh in Biggleswade.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.dacorumheritage.org.uk, www.hemelatwar.org.,www.hemelhemeroes.com.
