In remembrance of 2nd Lt. Arthur Reginald Deane, Royal Sussex Regiment

[Ashworth]

Lt. A. R. Deane aged 21

 

 

Arthur Reginald Deane was born at Szcheun, in China, the 21st of January 1895. His father died early; his mother stayed. Both were missionaries in the Chinese Quaker mission. He was the oldest child of a family of three, with a brother and a sister.

 

A. R. Deane third from left, sitting in the front row

 

He studied at Saffron Walden School from 1905 till 1910 when he entered Bootham School, which he would leave in 1912. He was a brilliant sportsman in cricket & football and excellent reeve student as depicted in this ‘In Memoriam’ article written by his former school.

 

As written on the card, second from right, sitting in the front row

 

In Middlesex, he became an accountant for ‘H. F. Knight & Co., Chartered Accountants’ where he distinguished himself for his merits, and finally decided to join the Territorial Force in June 1915, perhaps because their enlistment promises involved game sports. He was formed as an officer at the cadet training corps of the 28th London Regiment, more known under the name of the Artists’ Rifles.

 

He received his commission of Second Lieutenant in the 5th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment, which was the regiment he demanded to join.

He was attached to the 2nd Battalion of the R. Sussex Regiment, and was joined by his brother Bernard Frederick Deane, a Second Lieutenant as well. Appreciated by his men, he was ‘in very deed an officer and gentleman’. Unfortunately, his path in the Royal Sussex remains obscure save for a saddening event his brother certainly had to witness.

Mortally wounded on the 14th of November 1917 by very severe shelling on his battalion’s position in Passchendaele, Belgium, Lt. Deane was carried to the No. 61 Casualty Clearing Station in which he passed away, aged 22. His will gives an equal share between his brother and sister. His mother, late to come back from China, and whose relationship with her son I suspect to be rather negative, remarried shortly after his death.

 

Oath taken at the time of his demand for a commission, 1915

 

He was buried at Dozinghem Military Cemetery, in Belgium, with his grave bearing the inscription “TO MEMORY DEAR”, as wished by his aunt, Mrs. A. E. Sparkes. He was awarded the Interallied Victory Medal and British War Medal after his death.

 

His brother Bernard Frederick Deane went on to become a Flying Officer in the Royal Air Force, only to crash during a training aboard his Bristol Fighter F4933. He died on the 15th of April 1921, aged 24, accompanied by his mechanic and most probably batman Philip Frederick Elliott, aged 20. They were buried together in Salisbury Cemetery.

None of them had children; only their sister survived to an old age, leaving no heir.

 

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All additional info welcome for this brave officer.

Edited 2 August , 2018 by Ashworth