Arthur Austin was born in Hemel Hempstead in early 1893 and baptised, along with an older sister Minnie, in St. Paul’s Church on Queen Street in the town, on Friday, 14th April in the same year. Their parents John Austin and Emily Smith had a very large family of fifteen children of whom the following are known, May, Nellie, Minnie, Arthur, Lily, Flora (Florence), Alice Victoria, William James, Winnie (Winifred), Ethel, Ernest and Doris. There was one more unknown child and two other unnamed children who all died young. In 1901 when Arthur was eight years old he was living with his parents, five sisters and one brother in a small, terraced house at 4 Union Square. This was situated just off Queen Street, across the road from St. Paul’s Church and opposite Hemel Hempstead Union Workhouse. As the family grew his parents moved with all the children to a larger property at 108 Cotterells.

By this time Arthur had left school and started work and he was recorded on the 1911 Census as a “Porter” in a drapery store in Hemel Hempstead, possibly with George Rolph who had a large store at Nos. 85 to 89 High Street, Hemel Hempstead. Sometime after 1911, Arthur met Ethel Lavinia Field a native of Henlow in Bedfordshire. There are no records of Ethel having been in Hemel Hempstead, so it seems likely Arthur met her when he moved away from the town. The date and reason for his move are not known but his military records show that he was living in Arlesey in Bedfordshire when he volunteered in January 1916. Arlesey was less than two miles from Station Road in Henlow where Ethel lived, and they met at some time after Arthur had moved to the area.

Arthur joined up under the Group System (Derby Scheme) in January 1916 when he attested at Bedford and enlisted with the Bedfordshire Regiment. He was immediately posted to the 4th Battalion at Felixstowe for basic training but in late spring he was granted leave to return to Arlesey and he and Ethel married. The 4th Battalion was a “Special Reserve” originally assigned to home defence duties around Harwich and also used as a training battalion for new recruits and it regularly sent drafts of men to frontline battalions. However, following the catastrophic losses at the Somme in July 1916, the 4th Bedfords were mobilised for service on the Western Front. Arthur went overseas with his unit on the 25th July 1916 and disembarked at Le Havre before marching to Houdain and then Coupigny west of Amiens. The Battalion remained there until October when it moved up to Varennes in preparation for its first major engagement.

This was the Battle of Ancre on the 13th November 1916 and although there were 193 casualties, killed, wounded or missing, the assault was successful, and Arthur survived. In early 1917 he fought in the actions at Miraumont and then the Battle of Arras, the Second Battle of the Scarpe and Arleux in April. These engagments were very costly and over 660 men were lost. In September the Battalion moved to Belgium to the Ypres sector and on the 30th October, Arthur fought in horrendous weather conditions in the Second Battle of Passchendaele. Once more the 4th Bedfords suffered significant casualties, 264 men, but again Arthur came through unscathed.

1918 was spent in support as a second line of defence at the Battles of St. Quentin and Bapaume in March but despite this, the 4th Beds suffered further losses, so much so that the period between April and early August was used to rebuilt Battalion strength and drafts of new men arrived almost daily. This rebuilding culminated with the Battle of Albert in late August and one month later Arthur’s luck finally ran out during an attack on high ground just south of Cambrai.

He was one of thirteen men killed during the assault and he died on Monday, 30th September 1918.

His wife Ethel married for a second time in 1920 to Donald McVeagh, again in Biggleswade.

Arthur is Remembered with Honour on Vis-en-Artois Memorial, Pas de Calais, France, Panel 4 and 5.

He was 26 years old when he died.

Arthur was entitled to the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.