Name
Arthur Amos Cross
12 October 1881
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
21/09/1917
36
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
266694
Hertfordshire Regiment
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
TYNE COT MEMORIAL
Panel 153.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
N/A
UK & Other Memorials
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial,
St John the Evangelist Church Memorial, Boxmoor,
John Dickinson & Co Memorial, Apsley Mills, Apsley,
Hertfordshire Regimental Memorial, All Saints Church, Hertford,
Not on the Leverstock Green memorials
Pre War
Arthur Amos Cross was born on 12 October1881 in Hemel Hempstead, Herts, the son of Elizabeth Cross. He had two half-sisters, Minnie and Lizzie (Elizabeth) Matthews, of 6, Bellconey, Leverstock Green, Hemel Hempstead, Herts.
On the 1891 Census his mother Elizabeth Cross was listed as a housekeeper to Edward Gee at No. 5 Fishery, Hemel Hempstead and Arthur and his siblings Minnie and Lizzie were listed as boarders. His aunt and uncle, Alfred and Ada Redding were living next door at No. 6 Fishery. (Ada and Elizabeth were sisters) and their grandmother Emma lived at No. 10 with his uncle Fred, Aunt Jane and cousin Fred.
Arthur attended Boxmoor School and completed four of the seven Standards before leaving to start work as a 'Paper Boy'. He moved jobs to start work at John Dickinson & Co Ltd as a Wood Sawyer and remained working there until enlistment.
His mother died in 1895 at the age of 39 and on the 1911 Census he was living as a boarder with his aunt and uncle, Alfred and Ada Redding, at 59 Horsecroft Road, Boxmoor, Herts. Arthur's occupation was given as wood sawyer at a stationery manufacturer.
CWGC gives his next of kin as Mrs E Matthews (his sister Lizzie) who was living at Belcony, Leverstock Green, Hemel Hempstead, at the time of his death.
Wartime Service
Arthur enlisted in Hertford in June 1915 and joined the Hertfordshire Regiment, being posted to Bury St Edmunds for training. He was sent to France in 1916 to join the 1st Battalion which was in billets in Bethune, in early January, followed by a move to Givenchy.
In mid-April in Festubert , Arthur was in trenches for the first time and saw his first significant action at the Battle of Ancre Heights and later, in the last action of the Somme Offensive at the Battle of Ancre.
The Battalion then moved to Belgium in July 1917 in preparation for an offensive near Ypres, in the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, the opening attack of the Third Battle of Ypres, otherwise known as Passchendaele. Casualties were heavy but Arthur was not among them.
The Battle of Langemarck followed in early September, after which he was give home leave and returned to Hemel Hempstead to see family and friends. When he returned on 18 September he was in action within days in the Battle of the Menin Road and was killed in action on 21 September 1917, aged 35 when the regiment were positioned at Bulgar Wood.
He has no known grave and his name is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium.
Additional Information
His uncle Alfred Redding received a war gratuity of £10 and his aunt Ada Redding received his pay owing of £5 14s 3s. She also received a pension of 5 shillings and 6 pence for life.
N.B. there is a discrepancy on some records as to the date of death, ranging from 21st September to 26 September.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.hemelheroes.com.
