251596 Rflmn. Arthur Henry Gill British Army 4th Btn. Kings Royal Rifle Corps from:Edmonton, Middlesex (d.3rd October 1918) My Great-Uncle Arthur Gill died on 3rd of October 1918 during the Battle of the Hindenburg Line, having served throughout almost the entire Great War. On the following day, with tragic timing for Arthur's family, but no doubt to great relief for the world at large, Germany submitted their request for the Armistice after the vigorous Allied attack to which Arthur must have contributed.
My late mother told me that when she was two years old she remembered her uncle Arthur on leave, standing in the living room in front of the fireplace, in his uniform, at their home in Edmonton, giving her a green glass bead necklace that he had brought back from France, as a present. I still have those beads, together with two embroidered postcards that he sent, one, embroidered "My Dear Niece" signed "From Uncle Arthur xxxx" and the other, sent much earlier, at Christmas 1915, embroidered with Christmas Wishes, containing a card insert within the lace pocket, showing flags of France, Britain and Belgium, stating "Souvenir de Glorieuse Memoire, 1914 1915, Merry Christmas and Happy Future", addressed to "Mother and Dad with love from Arthur xxxx".
He was much loved, deeply missed, and has never been forgotten, and he now rests in Prospect Hill Cemetery, Gouy, located south of Cambrai in France. I am submitting this on 2nd October 2018, in memory and appreciation of his service and tragic sacrifice almost exactly a century ago.
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