WORLD WAR I
Bingham War Memorial
Service Record
| 37051 | Private Arthur Brown | Age 25 2ND Battalion, The Lancashire Fusiliers Formerly 44773, North Staffs Regt. |
Born 1891 |
| Reported missing 12th October, confirmed died 23/10/1916 at Le Transloy
in Northern France, having already survived some of the bloodiest fighting
, including day one of the Somme at Beaumont Hamill This was in the same action as Private Frank Lawrence Starbuck. |
Commemorated at the THIEPVAL MEMORIAL | Pier and Face 3 C and 3 D. |
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| Forces War Records.co.uk and Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre .org.uk | By the beginning of October 1916 heavy and persistent rain had turned the Somme into a quagmire of flooded shell craters and trenches thigh deep with an evil smelly mixture of rain water, rotting bodies and mud. Among the several units taking part in the battle at that time was the 2nd Bn. The Lancashire Fusiliers, whose objective about the 12th October was to capture a position known as Spectrum Trench. This they achieved though not without appalling losses. Despite this they were given a further order to attack Zenith Trench. Further losses made this task impossible and the attack was called off. A subsequent roll call showed there to be 4 Officers and 62 Other ranks killed, 6 Officers and 162 Other ranks wounded and 1 Officer and 100 Other ranks missing. This seems likely to be the action in which Private Starbuck was killed and Private Brown was reported missing. | ||
| War Diary | The battalion took over SPECTRUM trench on 9th October.
On the 10th and 11th the enemy shelled the trench heavily resulting in
casualties –16 Other ranks killed. |
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| War Diary (2) | The war
diary for the day Brown died tells of a heavy loss of men to gain 150
yards of territory. The battalion, with the 2nd Essex Regiment on its right and the 1st King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment on its left, was to attack and take part of Dewdrop Trench to the south-east of the sunken road which joined Lesboeufs to Le Transloy. Included in this objective were several subsidiary trenches, one of which was called Rainy Trench. Dewdrop Trench lay about four hundred and fifty yards from the British front line. When it had been captured, the other units were to go forward to another objective, while the 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers took over and consolidated the whole of Dewdrop. The net result of the day's operations was an advance a hundred and fifty yards at the cost of 3 officers and 205 other ranks killed, wounded and missing, one of which was Arthur Brown. |
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| CWGC | No family details | ||
| Register of Effects | Back pay of £2.2s.10d was paid to his widow, Rebecca, on 25th June 1917 | A war gratuity of £3.0s.0d was paid to his widow, Rebecca, 20th October 1919 | Margin note “self and children” |
No army records on Ancestry.com. Medal card copied
Family history etc
| 37051 | Private Arthur Brown | ||
| 1891 | born, Bingham, 28/04/1891 |
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| 1881 | John Henry and Harriett living in Ab Kettleby | Agricultural Labourer |
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| Census 1891 |
Arthur not yet born. Father John Henry living at Starnhill farm with: Wife: Harriett Children: none Also: Ann Monk: 45 Emma Sentena, 18 William Otter, 17 |
Farm Bailiff Visitor Domestic Servant Farm Labourer |
[see note below – no other household in occupation.] |
| Census 1901 |
Living at Starnhill Farm, Bingham with Father: John Henry, b Bingham 1859 Mother: Harriet, b 1861 Allington, Lincolnshire Brother: John W b 1893 Also resident: Samuel Dickman, aged 27 George Simpson, aged 21 |
Farm Bailiff Farm Servant Farm servant |
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| 1904 | Father John Henry died | ||
| Census 1911 |
Living in four roomed house in Cherry Street with Mother: Harriett, a widow Brother: John Grandmother: Sarah Wing aged 81 |
Working as Farm labourer Farm Labourer |
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| Free BMD/ GRO |
14th December 1912 Arthur married Rebecca Parnham, age 20,
a servant to David Smith, agricultural labourer of 4 Chapel Yard, Newgate
Street. The marriage was held in the register office and certified by Edward
Fewster, registrar. Arthur’s address was given as Long Acre, Rebecca’s
as Nottingham Road. They had three children: Thomas Henry, b 19th September 1911 John W, b 1913 Charles Arthur, b Bingham 14th March 1915 We have found no evidence of Rebecca remarrying, nor of her death. |
Rebecca’s father was an agricultural labourer living in Bolton on Dearne. Near Doncaster On Charles’ birth certificate, his father, Arthur’s occupation was Miller’s Drayman. |
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| Nottingham Evening Post | May 17th 1917 notice from his wife: |
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| Electoral Rolls | Rebecca lived on Cherry Street, 1921 and 1922 but not thereafter | ||
| Note | Also at Starnhill in 1901, in a separate household was George Brown, grocer and farmer of the family that owned Hardstaff and Brown grocers in Bingham. We have not found a family relationship between them. | ||
