Name
Arthur James Hill
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
02/11/1917
29
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Serjeant
201266
Bedfordshire Regiment
1st/5th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
GAZA WAR CEMETERY
XXII. A. 11.
Israel and Palestine (including Gaza)
Headstone Inscription
NEVER FORGOTTEN MOTHER AND SISTERS
UK & Other Memorials
Harpenden Town Memorial, Church of St Nicholas Memorial, Harpenden, High Street Methodist Church Memorial, Harpenden
Pre War
Arthur James was born in Harpenden in 1888 the eldest son to George Hill, farm worker, and Elizabeth Emma (nee Chapman). They lived at New Farm, near the Great Northern Railway Station, Harpenden.
On the 1901 Census Arthur was listed as a farm labourer. There were 3 brothers and 5 sisters in the family.
Wartime Service
Arthur joined the Bedfordshire Regiment as Private 5889. He later became a Serjeant and was also renumbered as 201266.
He went to Palestine with 1/5th Battalion and was killed in the fighting at the 3rd Battle of Gaza, Palestine. On 2 Nov 1917.
Additional Information
His mother, Mrs E. E. Hill, nr. Batford Mills, Harpenden, Herts., ordered his headstone inscription: “NEVER FORGOTTEN MOTHER AND SISTERS”. War Gratuity of £16 and arrears of £15 14s paid to his mother. Brother George served in Hampshire Regiment and died of Pneumonia in Salonika Oct 1918.
Acknowledgments
Neil Cooper
Jonty Wild, Mary Skinner, Harpenden & District Local History Society (www.harpenden-history.org.uk)
