220258 Pte. Arthur Howard "Howard" Cox British Army 15th (1st London Welsh) Royal Welsh Fusiliers from:London (d.7th Sep 1918) Arthur Howard Cox, known as Howard, was born August 1879 in Bloxwich, Staffordshire to Joseph and Tryphena Cox. He was the middle of 11 children and my great grandfather was his brother. Nothing of his childhood is known and he never married. Prior to joining up in November 1918 he was a porter and lived in Middlesex Street (Petticoat Lane) London.
On 14th November 1914, at the age of 36 years and 3 months, he joined the 15th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers, known as the 1st London Welsh, in Poplar, London. At that time, he was just under 5’3â€, with brown hair and blue/grey eyes. Sadly, we do not have a photo of him.
From the autobiography of “The Lousier War†by W A Tucker, who was recruited at the same time into the 15th Battalion, “the Unit assembled every day in the grounds of Grays Inn, London and we all returned to our homes every night. To recompense for this burden on our private finances our pay was (temporarily) raised to three shillings (15p) a day. The basic pay was one shilling (5p) a day.†After a month of practice in London he transferred to Llandudno in North Wales where the recruits were billeted in hotels and boarding houses. According to W A Tucker “They occupied ordinary bedrooms and were catered for by the hotel waitresses and general staff.†He later moved to Winchester until December 1915 before marching to Southampton and shipping out to France.
He was involved in various actions on the Western Front, surviving the shambolic battle of Mametz Wood (10th-15th July 1916) on the Somme, where all the officers were killed and soldiers fired at each other in the confusion of the trees. After Mametz the battalion moved, arriving eventually at Ypres in November 1916. He was either gassed or wounded (or both, according to a letter from his father) in action as he returned home on 28th November, whilst the battalion remained in Ypres.
Whilst recovering, he was posted to the 2/5 Battalion and was based in Westleton, Suffolk. On 9th March 1918 he was transferred to 23rd Battalion (territorial force) Cheshire Regiment. The 23rd Battalion was made up of men who were either stunted in growth or who were not fully fit eg. wounded or gassed (as had Howard). In May be was again shipped out to France, serving in B company under 2nd Lt. VRW Campbell and was involved in trench digging.
From biography of Thomas Burke, killed the same day as Howard "On 6th September, Thomas and his comrades were in front line trenches at the Pont de Nieppe, in northern France, near the town of Armentieres. Nieppe had been lost in the German attacks of the spring of 1918, but had been retaken on 3rd September. During the day, they were relieved by the 13th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment. The Battalion's War Diary notes that Howard’s "B" Company had difficulty in "extricating themselves from their positions" and their acting company commander, 2nd Lt. V R Campbell, was killed.
The Battalion then moved back to billets at Lupin Farm near Grand Beaumart. During the evening, a party of stretcher bearers under the Battalion's Medical Officer, Lieutenant Phibbs, managed to bring in several wounded from the area.
About 5pm on the 7th, there were several fruitless attempts to recover the body of Lt. Campbell which was, presumably, still lying in the open. His body must have been recovered sometime later as he is buried at Pont-de-Nieppe Cemetery where his grave is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The War Diary records that eight soldiers had been killed and another three were missing on 7th. Arthur Howard was one of these casualties. His is the only Cheshire Regiment burial in Cite Bonjean Military Cemetery, Armentieres, France.
He was 40 when he died on 7th September 1918, one of the many unsung heroes of WW1. May he and his many comrades all rest in peace. He is honoured and remembered by his Cox family.
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