Wood machinist apprentice
THROUGHOUT the centenary of the First World War, we have been remembering the soldiers from the Loughborough area who lost their lives while serving their country. Here, with the help of Marigold Cleeve and a small number of researchers from the Loughborough Carillon Tower and War Memorial Museum, we look back at more of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in October 1917.
Arthur Kidger.
Arthur Kidger was born in 1893 in Loughborough, the only son of Ernest Kidger and Ada (née Robey) who were married in Loughborough in 1893.
Arthur’s parents both worked in hosiery manufacture, his father as a hosiery trimmer and his mother at various times a binder off or linker.
Arthur had two sisters, Ethel and Gladys.
In 1901 the Kidger family lived at 1 George Street, Loughborough and Arthur’s aunt Clara and uncle Leonard Kidger also lived with them.
By 1911 Arthur’s aunt and uncle had moved out, the family was at 31 Russell Street, and Arthur, aged 17, was apprenticed to Messrs. Corah, builders and contractors, as a wood machinist.
The family subsequently moved to 28 Albert Promenade.
Arthur enlisted in Loughborough on 4th September 1914, three months after completing his apprenticeship, and joined the 8th (Service) Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment as Private 13983.
From the Depot he was sent firstly to Aldershot for training and then moved to Shorncliffe in Kent at the end of February 1915.
In April 1915 Arthur’s battalion became part of the newly established 37th Division of Kitchener’s 2nd New Army and the Division began to concentrate on Salisbury Plain.
On 25th June the units were inspected by King George V at Sidbury Hill. On 22nd July the Division began to cross the English Channel and Walter travelled to France on 29th July 1915.
Initially the 37th Division concentrated near Tilques. The 8th Battalion then moved via Watten, Houlie, St. Omer, Eecke and Dranoutre to Wulverghem and Berles-au-Bois, a short distance from the front line. In the months that followed the 8th Battalion did tours in the trenches, alternating with the 6th Leicesters who relieved them. They were involved in operations in Bailleul, Le Bizet, Armentières, Mondicourt, Beauval and Berles-au-Bois.
In April 1916 Arthur had moved with the 8th Leicesters to the Doullens area for six weeks cleaning up, resting and training. In mid-May they returned once more to the trenches in the Bienvillers-Bailleulmont sector, but nearer Gommecourt.
In June there was a series of nightly excursions into No-Man’s Land with patrols attempting to gather information on the enemy’s dispositions. On other occasions there were working parties out repairing the British barbed wire entanglements. The situation became increasingly hazardous as the month wore on when the Germans began to use a new and more accurate type of trench mortar. The 8th Battalion did not participate in the first days of the Somme Offensive but was held in reserve.
On 6th July Arthur’s battalion left billets at Humbercamps and marched to Talmas, continuing on the following day to billets in Soues.
On 10th July the battalion marched to Ailly-sur-Somme, entrained for Méricourt and travelled from there by lorry to bivouacs in Méaulte. Between 10th and 13th July the battalion was in the trenches near Fricourt and subjected to fairly continuous enemy fire. On the 14th July the battalion went into action at the Battle of Bazentin Ridge and on 15th July Arthur suffered a gunshot wound.
He was taken to No. 65 Field Ambulance and two days later transferred to the Casualty Clearing Station and sent to No. 6 General Hospital at Rouen. From 20th – 31st July he then recuperated at Etaples before being sent to the 9th Entrenching Battalion in the field. Entrenching battalions were temporary units used as pools of men, from which drafts of replacements could be drawn by conventional infantry battalions.
On 25th September Arthur damaged his foot while on duty and having been admitted to the 64 West Lancs. Field Ambulance was transferred to No. 15 Casualty Clearing Station.
Arthur’s service record does not make it clear where he was between October 1916 and the spring of 1917 although he appears to have been home on leave on New Year’s Day 1917.
It is clear, however, that he was still in trouble with his foot in March and April 1917 and that after passing through No. 64 Field Ambulance and No. 32 Casualty Clearing Station he arrived at No, 2 Canadian General Hospital at Le Tréport. On 29th May he was transferred to No. 3 General Hospital in Le Tréport where he remained until 7th June when he was discharged to the Base.
Arthur’s service record notes that on 9th July 1917 he rejoined his battalion and it is possible that it was at this point that he rejoined the 8th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment.
On 9th July 1917 the battalion was in the trenches near Croisilles before going into brigade Reserve. After one more front line trench tour at Croisilles the battalion moved to Camp A at Moyenville for eight days training. Another trench tour followed before the battalion moved to a hutment camp at Ervillers on 17th August.
On the day before the battalion moved Arthur was deprived of 10 days pay for not complying with standing orders i.e. by being without anti-gas appliances.
On 25th August the battalion moved by motor bus to Barly and from there, on the following day, marched to Ambrines. Two periods of training followed, firstly at Ambrines and then at Avesnes-le-Comte.
On 16th September the battalion marched to Savy, entrained for Caestre and went into camp for more training. On 23rd September they began a series of moves, firstly to Meteren, then by bus to Hallebast before marching to Sint Hubertushoek and from there to Ridge Wood south-west of Ypres.
On 30th September they moved up to the front line at Polygon Wood. On 1st October the enemy attacked the 9th Leicesters who were nearby and got possession of their front line.
The 8th Leicesters went to assist but the enemy made repeated attacks.
Counter-attacks were hit by a heavy enemy barrage in the neighbourhood of Joist Farm. Arthur, aged 24, was killed in this action, a phase of the Battle of Passchendaele.
Arthur is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, Panels 50-51.
The Major of Arthur’s company wrote to his parents that ‘He was hit in the body by a shell and died immediately. He has been a member of my platoon and company most of the time he has been in France, and he was a most efficient and reliable soldier.
“The officers and men of the company join with me in expressing our deepest sympathy with you in your terrible loss’.
The Chaplain of the battalion also wrote a letter of sympathy to the family, in which he stated that the Germans made a big counter attack, and that Pte. Kidger was one of those who made the great sacrifice. He extended his sympathy with the parents in their great sorrow.
Christopher Priestley.
Christopher Priestley was born in Loughborough in late1887 and baptised on 7th December 1887 at Emmanuel Church, Loughborough.
He was the son of Arthur Priestley, a needlemaker, and his wife Annie (née Manderfield) who were married on 27th March 1880 at Emmanuel Church.
In 1891 the family lived at 11 Moor Lane, Loughborough, but by 1899 had moved to Goodman’s Yard.
Christopher had three brothers Arthur (Junior), Leonard and James and four sisters Violetta, Florence, Elizabeth Annie, and Elsie.
He attended Cobden Street School.
In 1899 Christopher and another schoolboy William Hallam, appeared twice at the Loughborough Petty Sessions, firstly for committing wilful damage to timber belonging to Messrs. B. Clemerson and Son and secondly for smashing a barn door belonging to Joseph Garton auctioneer.
On the first occasion Christopher was discharged as he promised not to do it again but on the second occasion he was fined 5s and 1s 6d damages.
By 1901, when Christopher was 13, the family had moved to 2 Court C, South Street.
Christopher’s mother died in 1909, aged 50, and in early 1911 his widowed father was living with most of the family at 55 Ashby Square, Loughborough. Christopher was a tile maker in a brickyard.
On 3rd June 1911 Christopher’s father was remarried to Ellen Clarke at All Saints Church. Not long afterwards their daughter Doris, half-sister to Christopher, was born. This marriage was short-lived, however, as Christopher’s father died on 5th September 1913, aged 54.
Christopher enlisted on 16th November 1914 in Loughborough.
Aged 27 he was now a collier and lived at 5 Park Row, Loughborough.
On 27th November he was posted to the 9th (Service) Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment as Private 16035. He joined the battalion at Bourley Camp, near Aldershot. In early December the battalion moved into Aldershot and then, at the end of February 1915, to Shorncliffe in Kent.
In April 1915 the battalion became part of the newly established 37th Division of Kitchener’s 2nd New Army and the Division began to concentrate on Salisbury Plain.
On 28th July the battalion entrained at Ludgershall for Southampton with seventy-three horses, nineteen four-wheeled vehicles, four two-wheeled. The personnel included a machinegun section, transport, grooms and nine signallers (with bicycles). The 9th Battalion needed two trains for their four companies.
Having crossed the Channel to Le Havre on the SS City of Dunkirk the battalion joined the 37th Division at Tilques.
The 9th Battalion then moved to Bienvillers-au-Bois, a short distance from the front line. On 20th September Christopher was sentenced to 28 days of Field Punishment No. 1 and forfeiture of pay for a calendar month ‘for neglect to the prejudice of good order’. On 5th October he became a casualty because of an unspecified self-inflicted injury,
In the months that followed the battalion did tours in the trenches, alternating with the 7th Leicesters who relieved them. They were involved in operations in Bailleul, Le Bizet, Armentières, Mondicourt, Beauval and Berles-au-Bois and gave the trenches names such as Narborough Road, Gallowtree Gate, and High Cross
. Towards the end of the year the men were issued with goatskin jerkins to wear for warmth, but their smell made the men feel nauseous.
In April 1916 the 9th Leicesters moved to the Doullens area for six weeks for cleaning up, resting and training.
On 7th April Christopher was court-martialled for drunkenness and being absent from night-working and given 28 days loss of pay.
In mid-May the battalion returned once more to the trenches in the Bienvillers-Bailleulmont sector.
In June there was a series of nightly excursions into No-Man’s Land with patrols attempting to gather information on the enemy’s dispositions. On other occasions there were working parties out repairing the British barbed wire entanglements.
The situation became increasingly hazardous as the month wore on when the Germans began to use a new and more accurate type of trench mortar. On 3rd June Christopher was sent to hospital for three days.
On 1st July 1916 the 9th Leicesters moved into position at Souastre ready to reinforce the troops attacking at Gommecourt. No orders came, however, and the men marched back to Humbercamps where training took place on the 4th and 5th July. On 6th and 7th July the battalion marched via Talmas to Crouy and on 8th and 9th July rested and was addressed by the Divisional Commander on the forthcoming battle.
On 10th July they moved to Ailly-sur-Somme and then entrained for Méricourt before going by bus to bivouacs in Méaulte, north-east of Amiens. They then took over as Quadrangle Trench and Quadrangle support. On 11th July there was heavy shelling but no infantry attack. On 12th July the 9th battalion was relieved and moved back to Fricourt.
On 14th July the battalion moved up to the south edge of Mametz Wood just as an intense bombardment of the German positions began, and on to Bazentin-Le-Petit Wood. Finally relieved on 16th July the battalion, which had suffered heavy casualties, marched to Fricourt and on to Ribemont on the following day.
On 18th July they entrained at Méricourt for Saleux. After nine days of marching and some motor lorry transit the battalion arrived at Arras on 27th July, where for all of August the battalion was in the trenches or resting in billets. After some days training and resting at the beginning of September the battalion marched to Frevent and entrained for ‘Edgehill’ station near Dernancourt.
On 16th September the battalion moved to bivouac near Fricourt but Christopher was sent to hospital again. He rejoined his battalion on 21st September.
On 24th September the battalion moved up to the assembly trenches in front of Gueudecourt in preparation for an attack on the following day and were heavily shelled in the process.
From 25th to 28th September the battalion took part in the Battle of Morval and sustained considerable casualties. On 28th September Christopher was admitted to No. 15 Corps Casualty Clearing Station with dysentery but it is not recorded when he rejoined his battalion.
On 2nd October the battalion moved from Bernafay Wood to Dernancourt and on 4th October entrained at ‘Edge Station’ for Longpré-les-Corps-Saints, marched to Francières, entrained at Pont Remy for Béthune and marched to Fouquières-lèsBéthune. On 10th October they marched to Sailly-la-Bourse and went into the support trenches in the Hohenzollern Sector where trench mortars from the enemy did considerable damage.
Between 11th October and 15th December the battalion was either in the front line trenches, in the support line or in reserve.
On 16th November Christopher was admitted to No. 23 Casualty Clearing Station, Lozinghem, with dental caries.
On 2nd January 1917 he went to the convalescent camp of the Casualty Clearing Station.
Christopher’s battalion was now in training at Raimbart but it seems that he may not have rejoined them there.
The battalion then proceeded on 28th January to HoudequeWatou. Christopher, however, was readmitted to No. 23 Casualty Clearing Station on 5th February and sent to No. 4 Stationary Hospital at Arques, near St. Omer.
Christopher did rejoin his battalion on 19th February in the Hohenzollern sector and the battalion remained there in the front or support line until 27th March when they proceeded via Sailly-Labourse to Gaudiemare for training.
On 2nd April Christopher was sent to hospital in the field with an unexplained fever and on 3rd April was removed via No. 32 Casualty Clearing Station, Warlencourt, to No. 2 Canadian General Hospital at Le Tréport.
He was posted to the 12th Trenching Battalion Division at Calais on 20th April. He was granted seven days leave on 27th June and may have returned to Loughborough.
It seems that Christopher may have been posted from the Entrenching Battalion to the 8th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment at some point between April and August 1917 as there is a note on his service record dated 27th March 1918 as follows: ‘Posted to 8th Bn. Leic. Reg. for record purposes’.
In July 1917 the 8th Battalion was in the trenches near Croisilles before moving to Camp A at Moyenville for training.
On 2nd August Christopher was admitted to No. 64 Field Ambulance with a fever of unknown cause and remained there until 31st August when he rejoined his battalion in training at Ambrines and then at Avesnes-le-Comte. On 16th September the battalion marched to Savy, entrained for Caestre and went into camp for more training.
On 23rd September they began a series of moves, firstly to Meteren, then by bus to Hallebast before marching to Sint Hubertushoek and from there to Ridge Wood south-west of Ypres. On 30th September they moved up to the front line at Polygon Wood.
On 1st October the enemy attacked the 9th Leicesters who were nearby and got possession of their front line. The 8th Leicesters went to assist but the enemy made repeated attacks. Counter-attacks were hit by a heavy enemy barrage in the neighbourhood of Joist Farm.
It was presumed for official purposes that Christopher was killed in action, a phase of the Battle of Passchendaele, on or after 1st October.
Christopher is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, Panels 50-51.
He is also remembered on the memorial in Emmanuel Church, Loughborough, and on the Carillon.