Charles Arnott was born in Hemel Hempstead on Monday, 5th September 1892 and baptised the following month on Wednesday, 19th October in St Mary’s Church. He was the second child born to Charles Arnott and Annie Hitchcock who had a family of five together. The children were: James, Charles, Ethel May, Frank and the youngest Caroline. When Charles was born, the family lived on Bury Hill in Hemel Hempstead and this is where he grew up. In fact, Charles’ father have lived on Bury Hill since he was born in 1870 and he remained there for sixty-four years, until his death in 1934. Charles senior worked for the Hemel Hempstead District Gas Company for many years, and in 1911 he was recorded on the Census return as a ‘Sulphur Maker’ at the Gasworks in Boxmoor. Sulphur was a by-product of gas production and often used to make sulphuric acid.

When Charles left school, he went to work for John Dickinson & Co. Limited in Apsley Mills where he was employed as an ‘Envelope Maker’. On the outbreak of war, he sought permission from his employer to enlist and in January 1915, he left Dickinsons and went to Bedford where he joined the Bedfordshire Regiment. His basic training took place at Felixstowe and nine months later he was posted to the 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment and disembarked at Le Havre in France on the 2nd October 1915. He joined his battalion two days later at Cuinchy billets in Le Quesnoy, along with 250 other new soldiers and by the end of the month he went into the trenches for the first time. The rest of the year passed relatively quietly for Charles and the 2nd Battalion, but by late June 1916 he was at Maricourt on the Somme, as final preparations were made for the planned offensive.

On the 1st July 1916, the 2nd Bedfordshires were in support of the 17th and 20th Battalions King’s Liverpool Regiment which led the general advance. By the end of the day the objectives had been achieved and positions consolidated and for the next ten days Charles was involved in holding onto the hard won territory. On the 11th July the 2nd Bedfordshires attacked Trones Wood where it suffered heavy casualties in a day of hard fighting. There were over 240 men killed, wounded or missing, but Charles was fortunately not one of these.

He continued to fight through the next few months, until in October, the anniversary of his arrival in France, he took part in the Battle of Transloy where the casualties where again severe with 503 men lost. This included 125 men suffering from ‘Shell Shock’. The Battalion War Diaries record matter-of-factly along with the list of casualties, that “…a Draft of 10 Other Ranks joined from the Base.” A pitiful number when compared with the carnage over the previous two days. Once again however, Charles was a survivor. By the end of the year the 2nd Bedfordshires had been reinforced and the War Diary records the closing entry for the year as follows: “STRENGTH OF BN. on 31st December, 1916 Offrs 34 W.O's 1 Sgts. 60 Cpls. 58 Ptes. 900 Total 1080 Total all ranks 1054.”

In April 1917, Charles fought in the Second Battle of the Scarpe, the opening encounter in the Battle of Arras and the last action he would experience in France. In May the Battalion moved to Belgium and took up positions in the Zillebeke sector and was in support at the Battle of Messines Ridge in June. The Battle of Pilckem Ridge followed at the end of July and still Charles’ good fortune held and he survived. Throughout August he fought in the trenches until the 2nd Bedfordshires reached positions in Wytschaete on the 11th September. From then until the 19th September, the Bedfordshires were subject to gas attacks and incurred forty-seven casualties as a result.

On the 20th September orders were given for raids to be undertaken. The Battalion War Diaries record the details: “…a party consisting of 50 Other ranks, with orders to raid the Centre of Movement at O.12.c.25/70 for the purpose of collecting information, capturing Prisoners, Machine Guns and damaging Dug-outs. They were accompanied by a party of 8 R.E's with blasting charges. The party on nearing their objective were fired on heavily both with Machine Guns and Rifles. This fire, so intense, and the wire discovered to be uncut, made further advance and return impossible. The party, among whom were several wounded, remained in shell-holes during the whole day and returned about 9 p.m. to our own line. Much valuable information was collected from this enterprise…”. The Diary also recorded the casualties: “During the raid the following casualties occurred. 2/Lieut.T.G. Searle M.C. Wounded and Missing. Other Ranks: - Killed 8 Missing 4 Wounded & Missing 3 Wounded 13”.

Charles was in one of the raiding parties and he had been ‘picked off’ by a German sniper during the action. He was killed on Thursday, 20th September 1917. Following his death, his family received a number of letters of sympathy from comrades and the regimental Chaplain and these were published in the Hemel Gazette. One of the letters came from Private Frederick William Roadnight who was serving with Charles. It is clear from the letter that Charles knew that there was a chance he could be killed during the planned raid. Indeed, these raids were extremely unpopular with soldiers because of the very high risks involved. Frederick Roadnight survived the War and returned to live out his life in Boxmoor.

Charles was commemorated on the John Dickinson & Co. Limited War Memorial in Apsley. (recorded incorrectly as ‘E. Arnott’)

Charles is Remembered with Honour on the Tyne Cot Memorial, West Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 48 to 50 and 162A.

He was 25 years old when he died.

Charles was entitled to the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.