Name
Arthur William Joseph Searle
7 June 1895
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
12/06/1917
22
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Serjeant
37643
Royal Garrison Artillery
176th Siege Bty.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
HAZEBROUCK COMMUNAL CEMETERY
I. G. 6.
France
Headstone Inscription
SLEEP ON BELOVED SLEEP AND TAKE THY REST GOOD-NIGHT
UK & Other Memorials
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial, St Paul's Church Memorial, Hemel Hempstead, (now lost)
Pre War
Arthur William Joseph Searle was born Weybridge, Surrey on 7 June 1895, the son of Albert and Emily Searle, and baptised on 18 August 1895 at St James Church, Weybridge.
On the 1901 Census the family had moved to Cemetery Road, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, where his father was working as a Drainage Inspector.
In 1908, when Arthur left school, he was the first local boy to be presented with a silver watch for eight years perfect attendance at school and never being late during that period. Alderman William Randall, ex Mayor of Hemel Hempstead, made the presentation.
His mother had died in 1902, aged 39 and on the 1911 Census he was living with his widowed father and brothers Albert and Frederick at 110 Cotterells, Hemel Hempstead, when he was working as a printer, (working for John Dickinson & Co Ltd.
A local newspaper reported in 1917 that he had been in the army prior to the war and had served in Malta for three years. He had enlisted in late 1911 with the Royal Garrison Artillery, although at sixteen he was officially too young, and must have lied about his age. He served in Malta as part of the garrison until the outbreak of war when his Battery returned to England.
Wartime Service
Arthur was already a serving soldier at the outbreak of war and was sent to France with the 176th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, a newly formed unit, on 25th September 1916, as Sergeant.
He soon saw action at Messines, laying down barrages on enemy positions, a daily routine which increased leading up to the attack on Messines Ridge, part of the Third Battle of Ypres, which later became better known as Passchendaele.
Arthur was seriously wounded in the abdomen on 7 June 1917 (his 22nd birthday) and the first day of the Battle of Messines Ridge. He was taken to a Casualty Clearing Station and then evacuated to the New Zealand No. 1 Stationary Hospital in Hazebrouck. Despite their best efforts, he died on 12 June 1917 and is buried at Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery.
Additional Information
His father, Mr A T Searle, 110 Cotterells Road, Hemel Hempstead, Herts., ordered his headstone inscription: "SLEEP ON BELOVED SLEEP AND TAKE THY REST GOOD-NIGHT". He received a war gratuity of £19 10s and pay owing of £6 2s 9d. He did not wish to claim a pension. Brother to Albert who served with the Royal Air Force Reserve in 1918, and Frederick who enlisted in 1914 and served until 1927.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.hemelheroes.com. www.dacorumheritage.org.uk
