8 April 1918 : Pte Arthur Algernon Pickles MM
- Home
- On This Day
- 8 April 1918 : Pte Arthur Algernon Pickles MM
Arthur Algernon Pickles was born in 1896 in Newchurch-in-Pendle, Lancashire
His parents were John Pickles (an antique dealer and Sexton) and Hannah. Arthur had a much older brother Hartley, as well a younger brother George and a younger sister Mary Lucy.
Before the war Arthur was a cotton weaver.
His father's first wife had died in 1886. Arthur had to much older half-brothers, Hartley who died in 1983 age 102, and Spensely for whom we have no records. Arthur had two younger siblings, George who died age 11 in 1909 and Mary who lived to be 87 and died in 1987.
Arthur was conscripted into the army in the spring of 1916. He was allocated to the 2/7th Warwicks the following year after being sent to the Western Front in June 1917. After taking part in the 3rd Battle of Ypres and the Battle of Cambrai in 1917, Arthur was heavily involved in the defensive actions against the German Spring Offensives of 1918.
He was awarded the Military Medal for actions during the German Offensive after operating a machine-gun despite having suffered a gun-shot wound to the leg on 21 March 1918. Initially posted as missing (this was the last time any of his comrades saw him alive), it later transpired that he had been taken prisoner by the advancing Germans, but died of his wounds in a German medical facility on 8 April 1918.
Arthur Pickles is now buried in St.Souplet British Cemetery, Nord.
8 April 1918 325151 Pte Arthur Pickles MM, 2/7th Bn Ryl Warwickshire Regt
8 April 1918 died of his wounds
Research by David O'Mara with additional details by Jonathan Vernon
Sources: English Census 1901, 1911; UK Commonwealth War Graves; Church of England Births and Baptisms, Pension Records from The Western Front Association archive on Fold3 by Ancestry.
Members of The Western Front Association may access these digitised records for FREE. Access is via Ancestry and their fold3 platform. Follow these steps using your Member Login to access these records.