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Cpl. Arthur Heath
British Army 22nd Battalion Manchester Regiment
from:Manchester
(d.1st Jul 1916)
Arthur Heath was my grandfather, he joined up in November 1914 when his one & only son Arthur was just 1 month old. He joined one of the Pals Battalions that was raised by the Lord Mayor of Manchester. He was in C Company, Platoon XII. A photograph with his platoon is attached, along with the list of names of those shown. Arthur is my Grand Father & when he died on the first day of the Battle of the Somme he left behind not just his son, but a widow & two daughters, one of which was my Mother. He has no known grave, but is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial in France. His civilian life entailed working as a barman at the time of his marriage to Emily in 1904. He also worked as a bar steward for Manchester Liners & one of the ships he sailed on was the Manchester Importer. Just before he volunteered to join the Army he was working for the Charles MacIntosh Rubber Works in Manchester. It would be nice to hear from anybody who's Grand Father is also pictured in the attached Platoon Photograph & named in the second attachment. Arthur was killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme with the Manchester Pals. He has no known grave & his name is on the Thiepval Monument. He left behind a wife, two daughters, one of which was my mother, & a very young son who was born after he enlisted in 1914. My Mother had just started school when she received at least two letters from him. One of which he sent his kind regards to her schoolteacher & hoped that he would get to meet her when he came home. The family do not know if this ever took place as we are not sure if he ever got leave before he was killed? We are aware that he was very proud to have a son who was named after him. Unfortunately Arthur Heath Junior died when he was eight, so my Grandmother had a double tragedy to deal with.
Arthur's mother, Mary Ellen Huddart, married Charles Frederick Heath on the 05/06/1887 when Arthur was 6 years old. It is not known who Arthur's biological father was. Charles Frederick appears to have taken the boy as his own as according to the 1891 census the 10 year old Arthur is stated as the son of Charles Frederick. In 1904 Arthur married Emily Carter, a widow, & they had 3 children, one of which was my Mother. Before volunteering for the Manchester Pals 7th City 22nd Battalion, Arthur was working for a shipping company operating out of the Manchester Ship Canal. His son, Arthur Frederick, was born on the 23rd October 1914, a matter of weeks before his father, Arthur Heath, volunteered as part of a recruitment drive by the then Lord Mayor of Manchester. The family assumed that his baby son was born after Arthur volunteered. We will never know why a man of 33 years would volunteer, leaving behind a new born son & two young daughters. We can only assume, like thousands of others, he truly believed the propaganda, that it would all be over by Christmas.
