Name
Arthur Pocock
1894
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
29/10/1918
24
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
5552
Hertfordshire Regiment
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Searched but not found
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
GREAT BERKHAMSTED (ST. PETER) CHURCH CEMETERY
Row 13. 2.
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
Berkhamsted Town Memorial, St Peter's Church Memorial, Berkhamsted, Not listed on the Hertfordshire Regimental Memorial, All Saints Church, Hertford
Pre War
Arthur Pocock was born in 1894 in Berkhamsted, the son of Arthur and Sarah Jane Pocock and one of eleven children, although four died in infancy,
On the 1901 Census the family were living at 21 High Street, Berkhamsted where his father was working as a bootmaker. By 1911 they had moved to 16 Clarence Road, Berkhamsted at which time 16 year old Arthur was working as a clerk in a factory.
Later addresses for his parents were given as 26 High Road, Berkhamsted and 15 Swing Gate Lane, Berkhamsted.
Wartime Service
He enlisted on 17 September 1915 at Hertford and joined the 1st Battalion, Hertfordshire Regiment, being posted on 29 January 1916.
Medical report on 6 March 1916 stated that he had a mental defect and was to be discharged as no longer physically fit due to mental stupor. He was dangerously bad tempered and had threatened to bayonet a Sergeant. He was of no use in the Army, and in fact was dangerous if put out. It was not thought that the disability was the result of active service. He was discharged on 22 March 1916 in Lowestoft, aged 21.
A pension appeal tribunal in January 1918 decided his disability could be as a result of army service and awarded a gratuity of £45 and pension of 15 shillings a week.
Arthur died on 29 October 1918, aged 24, in the Hertfordshire County Asylum, Hill End, St Albans with the cause of death recorded as 'General Paralysis of the Insane' of indefinite duration. He is buried in Great Berkhamsted (St Peter) Church Cemetery with a CWGC headstone.
Additional Information
Arthur was not entitled to war medals as he did not serve in a theatre of war but is named on the Berkhamsted Memorial.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.rectorylanecemetery.org.uk
