Arundel Martyn

Arundel Martyn was the son of Colonel Anthony Martyn. He entered the army through the Militia and was commissioned in the Royal West Kent Regiment on 9 May 1888. He served in the South African War (1900-1), largely as a brigade-major on the staff, and then became Adjutant 3rd (West Kent Militia) Battalion Royal West Kent Regiment (1901-4). This rather mundane career took a turn for the exotic in December 1904 when Martyn was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Macedonian Gendarmerie, a post he retained until July 1907. On 21 March 1912 he was promoted lieutenant-colonel and given command of 1st Battalion Royal West Kents. At 43 he was on the young side for a battalion commander of that period.

He was still in command when war broke out and took his battalion to France in 13th Brigade, 5th Division. On 13 October 1914 he succeeded to the acting command of 13th Brigade after Brigadier-General William Hickie fell sick. It was while commanding the brigade that Martyn was wounded in the arm by a shell splinter during a forward reconnaissance. He did not return to active duty until June 1915, when he was given his own brigade, earlier promised by Field-Marshal French.

Martyn’s 55th Brigade, 18th (Eastern) Division, deployed to France in July 1915, but within three months he was transferred to the command of 67th Brigade, 22nd Division, on the Macedonian front. His familiarity with the area, however, conferred no immunity from its notorious diseases and he fell ill on 17 December. 

He was off sick for a year before returning to the Western Front as GOC 170th Brigade, 57th (2nd West Lancashire) Division. He commanded this formation only until 10 May 1917, when he was sent home suffering from ‘strain’. The brigade took part in no major operations while under Martyn’s command.

After a period as GOC 218th Brigade, 73rd Division, a home service formation, Brigadier-General Martyn retired from the army on 22 March 1919.