Name
Arthur Thomas Miles
1883
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
16/11/1916
33
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
7394
Bedfordshire Regiment
6th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 (Mons) Star, British War and Victory Medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
FRANKFURT TRENCH BRITISH CEMETERY, BEAUMONT-HAMEL
B. 19.
France
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
Barkway Village Memorial, St Mary Magdalene Church Memorial, Barkway, Newsells Memorial Stone, Not on the Buntingford memorials
Pre War
Arthur was born in 1883 in Buntingford, the son of Walter and Rachel Miles and baptised at St Bartholomew's Church, Layston, Herts on 14 October 1883.
On the 1891 Census the family were living at Newsells Village, Barkway, Herts, where his father was working as a bricklayer. They remained there in 1901 at which time, Arthur was working as a gardener domestic. His mother died in 1910 and at the time of the 1911 Census, Arthur was living with his widowed father, brothers David, Albert, Alfred and Jack, and sister Rosanna at Newsells.
Wartime Service
He enlisted in Royston and joined the Bedfordshire Regiment, and may have been a serving soldier at the outbreak of war, serving in France with the 1st Battalion from 16 August 1914 (according to Medal Index Card) when the 1st Battalion arrived at Le Havre.
They fought in the Battle of Mons a few days later, and then the Battle of Le Cateau. The following month was the Battles of the Marne and the Aisne, followed by the Battle of La Bassee in October. It is not known when he was transferred to the 6th battalion.
He was killed in action on 16 November 1916, aged 33, and is buried in Frankfurt Trench British Cemetery, Beaumont-Hamel, France.
Additional Information
His sole legatee, Miss Mildred L Dale received a war gratuity of £13 and pay owing of £17 15s 9d.
A pension card exists with his father as dependent in respect of his three sons, Jack, Alfred and Arthur, but there is no indication of the amount of pension paid.
Brother to Jack Miles who served with the Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment and died of wounds received in action on 21 September 1918, and brother to Alfred Miles who served with the Suffolk Regiment and was killed in action on 13 October 1915.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Paul Johnson, Adrian Pitts, Malcolm Lennox
