In From The Cold - 13.08.08

[Terry Denham]

CWGC added the following 'new' WW1 casualty to its Debt of Honour database today – Wednesday 13th August.

Pte Arthur EAVES

607632 Labour Corps

Died 08.12.20 Age 48

Buried: Marple Bridge (St Mary) Roman Catholic Churchyard, Derbyshire, UK

NOT FORGOTTEN

This casualty was put forward by GWF on 17.01.08 on behalf of John Hartley

[chrisharley9]

May He Rest In Peace

[John_Hartley]

Arthur Eaves is one of a large handful of men commemorated on a War Memorial in the Borough of Stockport who I found to be “out in the cold”. He has taken more detective work than some of the others.

As with all of “my” men, his story started with an inscription on a War Memorial. Or, in his case, two War Memorials as his name appears on both the Bredbury and Romiley ones. In the former case, the inscription records his service as being with the 8th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment. For a number of years, there was no progress in the research. There was no-one of this name commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. There was no wartime obituary for him in the local press and all other enquiries drew a blank.

I came back to Arthur last year. New online sources were available and, in particular, CheshireBMD recorded the local death of and 48 year old Arthur Eaves. It was likely to be the right man but would there be anything to connect this death to military service over two years after the War ended? The answer would lie in his death certificate.

It showed that he had died at 7 Compstall Road, Romiley and that present at his death had been his brother, John Eaves, who lived next door at No. 5. It showed that Arthur had died of Bronchitis and cardiac failure after being gassed in the War. Interestingly, it gave Arthur’s home address as 13 Grismont Avenue, Sparkbrook, Birmingham and his occupation as insurance agent. The 1914 edition of Kelly’s Directory recorded John Eaves living at No. 5 and working as a painter. No. 7 was the home of milliner, Bridget Eaves – almost certainly their mother. This was confirmed when an examination was made of the 1901 Census. This showed the family had originated from Preston and, at the time, the family were living in Compstall. Arthur appears to have already left home and was living in Birmingham.

The Medal Index Cards showed only one Arthur Eaves serving with the Worcesters, later transferring to the Labour Corps. It was now time to seek Terry’s advice about a submission to CWGc. He quickly chucked a bucket of cold water over my enthusiasm telling me I hadn’t made a link between the man on the death certificate and the man on the medal card.

Hmmm, I thought. I don’t agree with you there, Terry. Anyway, off I went on another trawl through the library archives which produced a newspaper mention of Arthur’s funeral which confirmed his service (and place of burial). Terry was now happy. So was I. Off went the submission.

Not long afterwards, Arthur’s service file appeared on Ancestry and this provided further confirmation that we had our man. He enlisted at Worcester on 25 May 1915. His medical examination confirms he was very fit with perfect vision. He was a tall man, particularly for those times, standing just under 6’.

The record shows that he was gassed on 19/20 July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. Records of the Battle show that on the 19th, 8th Worcesteshires were digging a new communication trench forward from La Boiselle. They came under attack from new type of gas shell and there were only 18 men unaffected. The whole Battalion had to be moved away for treatment and, over a month later, 400 were pronounced still unfit for duty. After finally recovering from the worst effects of the gas, he was transferred to the Labour Corps on 15 July 1917. His time in the trenches was over. He was assigned to 5th Prisoner of War Company and he would spend the rest of military service as a camp guard, transferring to 342nd PoW Company on 26 October 1918.

Arthur was discharged from the Army on 22 February 1919 and returned to Birmingham. However, no doubt with seriously failing health, he returned to Romiley to die at the family home the following year. Reporting his death, the local newspaper said that his body was carried to his grave by his four brothers – Oswald, Peter, John and Cuthbert. He’s now “in from the cold”.

[jimmyjames]

John

Good story. Well played.

Sometimes when researching a non-com you just a "feeling" that in all probability, when all the threads have been tied together, he will be brought IFTC.

Does his grave have a marker?

Regards

Jimmy

[Neil Clark]

Nice detective work John.

Well done.

[Will O'Brien]

Raising a glass to the memory of Arthur & raising another to the hard work of our own Mr Hartley...............Well done John.

[Guest geoff501]

Well done John. Giving up should never be an option. Rest In Peace, Arthur.

[Andrew P]

Well done John

[ian turner]

John,

A no doubt long piece of detective work, but it is the least we can do for them, is it not?

Thanks

Ian