Page Image(mouse over to use magnifying glass, click or use the button below to view within Remembrance book)
Comments
Rosie Rowley
Benjamin Arnold, Private 7307, 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment
Killed in action 13th November 1914 in Belgium, aged 33
EARLY LIFE
Benjamin Arnold was born in 1881 in Macclesfield, the son of Jane and Thomas Arnold, a road paver working for the Council. He was baptised at St Michael’s Church on November 25th 1882. The 1891 census shows that Benjamin was living with his parents and siblings Peter, Thomas and Jane at 14 Princess Street, Macclesfield. By 1901 the family had moved to 8 Pool Street and Benjamin, then 20 years of age, was employed as a builder’s labourer.
Benjamin’s service papers show that he enlisted into the Army in December 1903, joining the 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment. His medical records describe him as being 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 141 pounds and having a chest measurement of 35½ inches, with a fresh complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. His brother Peter was also serving with the Cheshire Regiment.
Benjamin served for 7 years, most of it in India, completing his engagement in January 1911. The 1911 census records him living with his widower father at 9 Turnock Street, Macclesfield, and employed as a labourer. Benjamin married Elizabeth Billington in June 1911 at St George’s Church in Macclesfield, and the couple set up home at 25 Allen Street. In January 1912 Benjamin gained employment as a postman in Macclesfield.
WW1 SERVICE
Private Benjamin Arnold was mobilised on the outbreak of war in August 1914, having a reserve liability, and posted back to the 1st Cheshires. The Battalion deployed from Londonderry to France in August 1914 as part of the British Expeditionary Force. It was decimated by German attacks in the retreat from Mons and the Regimental war history records that by the end of October “the Battalion practically ceased to exist”. According to his medal index card, Benjamin arrived in France on 10th August, so survived this bitter fighting. The Battalion then moved to reinforce defences against the Germans around Ypres and the Battalion war diary records them in defensive trenches near Nonne Bosschen wood by 13th November. Four men, including Benjamin, are recorded as being killed in action on this date, most probably by enemy shellfire. His death was reported in The Macclesfield Times & East Cheshire Observer on 1 January 1915:
“The name of Private Benjamin Arnold, of Allen Street, Macclesfield, must be added to the local roll of honour. News has been received by his wife that he was killed in action on 13th November… Private Arnold was a reservist of the 1st Cheshire Regiment, and had served in India for over 5½ years. He completed seven years with the colours, and afterwards obtained an appointment as a postman in Macclesfield. He was called up on the outbreak of war, and went to France with the Expeditionary Force, and took part in the battle of Mons, the retreat, and was also in the advance. He leaves a widow to mourn her loss.”
COMMEMORATION
Private Benjamin Arnold has no known grave and he is commemorated on Panel 19-22 of the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial in Belgium. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission holds casualty details for Private Benjamin Arnold, and he is listed on the Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War website.
In Macclesfield, Benjamin Arnold is commemorated on the Park Green, Town Hall, St Michael’s Church and the Macclesfield Post Office memorials.
NOTES
Brother of Thomas Arnold, who served as Private 357 with the 7th Cheshire Regt and later as Private 126521 with the Machine Gun Corps, and was killed in action on 5 April 1918; and Peter Arnold, who served as a private in the 2nd Cheshire Regt, married Ida Beatrice Murphy on 12 April 1909 in Vepery, Madras, India and died in India several years before 1918.
Benjamin Arnold, Private 7307, 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment
Killed in action 13th November 1914 in Belgium, aged 33
EARLY LIFE
Benjamin Arnold was born in 1881 in Macclesfield, the son of Jane and Thomas Arnold, a road paver working for the Council. He was baptised at St Michael’s Church on November 25th 1882. The 1891 census shows that Benjamin was living with his parents and siblings Peter, Thomas and Jane at 14 Princess Street, Macclesfield. By 1901 the family had moved to 8 Pool Street and Benjamin, then 20 years of age, was employed as a builder’s labourer.
Benjamin’s service papers show that he enlisted into the Army in December 1903, joining the 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment. His medical records describe him as being 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 141 pounds and having a chest measurement of 35½ inches, with a fresh complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. His brother Peter was also serving with the Cheshire Regiment.
Benjamin served for 7 years, most of it in India, completing his engagement in January 1911. The 1911 census records him living with his widower father at 9 Turnock Street, Macclesfield, and employed as a labourer. Benjamin married Elizabeth Billington in June 1911 at St George’s Church in Macclesfield, and the couple set up home at 25 Allen Street. In January 1912 Benjamin gained employment as a postman in Macclesfield.
WW1 SERVICE
Private Benjamin Arnold was mobilised on the outbreak of war in August 1914, having a reserve liability, and posted back to the 1st Cheshires. The Battalion deployed from Londonderry to France in August 1914 as part of the British Expeditionary Force. It was decimated by German attacks in the retreat from Mons and the Regimental war history records that by the end of October “the Battalion practically ceased to exist”. According to his medal index card, Benjamin arrived in France on 10th August, so survived this bitter fighting. The Battalion then moved to reinforce defences against the Germans around Ypres and the Battalion war diary records them in defensive trenches near Nonne Bosschen wood by 13th November. Four men, including Benjamin, are recorded as being killed in action on this date, most probably by enemy shellfire. His death was reported in The Macclesfield Times & East Cheshire Observer on 1 January 1915:
“The name of Private Benjamin Arnold, of Allen Street, Macclesfield, must be added to the local roll of honour. News has been received by his wife that he was killed in action on 13th November… Private Arnold was a reservist of the 1st Cheshire Regiment, and had served in India for over 5½ years. He completed seven years with the colours, and afterwards obtained an appointment as a postman in Macclesfield. He was called up on the outbreak of war, and went to France with the Expeditionary Force, and took part in the battle of Mons, the retreat, and was also in the advance. He leaves a widow to mourn her loss.”
COMMEMORATION
Private Benjamin Arnold has no known grave and he is commemorated on Panel 19-22 of the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial in Belgium. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission holds casualty details for Private Benjamin Arnold, and he is listed on the Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War website.
In Macclesfield, Benjamin Arnold is commemorated on the Park Green, Town Hall, St Michael’s Church and the Macclesfield Post Office memorials.
NOTES
Brother of Thomas Arnold, who served as Private 357 with the 7th Cheshire Regt and later as Private 126521 with the Machine Gun Corps, and was killed in action on 5 April 1918; and Peter Arnold, who served as a private in the 2nd Cheshire Regt, married Ida Beatrice Murphy on 12 April 1909 in Vepery, Madras, India and died in India several years before 1918.