Name
Arthur Henry Bavington
Conflict
Second World War
Date of Death / Age
18/08/1940
23
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Air Mechanic 2nd Class
SFX. 783
Royal Navy
H.M.S. Peregrine
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
ROYSTON CHURCH ADDITIONAL BURIAL GROUND
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
In proud and grateful memory of my dear husband Naval Air Mechanic Arthur Henry Bavington killed in action Aug 18th 1940 aged 23 years. Heroically he lived. Heroically he died safe from all earthly sorrows safe from all pains. Now this lad of ours paradise regains
UK & Other Memorials
Hitchin Town Memorial, Hitchin Roll of Honour 1939 – 1945 (Book) St Mary’s Church, Hitchin, Royston Town Memorial
Biography
He was born in Hitchin and educated at Wilshere Dacre School. After leaving school, he joined Latchmore's the grocers of High Street and Brand Street in Hitchin. Later he joined the London & Northeastern Railway as a signalman and was in Hitchin South Signal Box and still later transferred to Meldreth and to Ashwell. He was popular as a member of the Hitchin Church Adult Class, the Letchworth Cycling Club and the Meldreth Cycling Club.
He joined the Fleet Air Arm with the Service Number CFX 783 in February 1940 and joined the shore-based station H.M.S. ‘Peregrine’. He was home on leave in July 1940. He was killed during an enemy air-raid at the Fleet Air Arm Station where he was stationed in Ford in Hampshire.
The funeral was on the 24th August with full R.A.F. honours and he is buried in Royston Churchyard Extension. The private memorial stone reads "In proud and grateful memory of my dear husband Naval Air Mechanic Arthur Henry Bavington killed in action Aug 18th 1940 aged 23 years. Heroically he lived. Heroically he died safe from all earthly sorrows safe from all pains. Now this lad of ours paradise regains" . There is also a flower vase marked "From Mum and Dad".
His parents were William and Eliza Bavington of 11 , South Place, Hitchin. In 1938 he married Sylvia Olive Fleur West, and their home was at 76, Old North Road, Royston and they had a son born in 1939.
Acknowledgments
David C Baines – ‘Hitchin’s Century of Sacrifice’, Paul Johnson - local historian, Herts & Beds Express dated 31st August 1940, "Ships of the Royal Navy" by F. E. McMurtrie
