261927 RSM. Arthur Frederick Ridout British Army 19th (County of London) Btn. London Regiment from:136 Links Road, Tooting Junction, London (d.15th Sep 1916) Arthur Ridout was born in 1883 in Okeford Fitzpaine, Dorset, the second child of three of Frederick and Elizabeth Ridout (formerly Trent, nee Ross). His mother had lost her first husband and carried on farming the family farm. Arthur had two sisters, the elder dying in infancy and his younger sister Mary Minnie, known as Min throughout her life. He had 6 half-brothers and -sisters. By 1901, Arthur was living with his eldest half brother, John Ross Trent, and his wife in Mitcham, Surrey. His occupation was railway clerk. He met his future wife, Ella Jessie Arthur, and they married in 1911 in Tonbridge Kent. His sisterm Min stayed in touch with her brother and became good friends of his wife Ella who was a very good pianist. As a result of her meeting with Arthur and Ella, she met a friend of Arthur's and he became the love of her life. He too served in the First World War but none of the family remembers his name, and unfortunately he was killed. Min hadn't been able to marry her betrothed, and she led a very sad life with very little money. Arthur joined up on 5th September 1914, naming his wife Ella, his half-brother John Trent, and his sister Minnie as relatives.
From research, he went out to France with the 1st Battalion, London Regiment on 9th March 1915 and at the time of his death was acting RSM. He had one stripe when the Battalion landed in France and became a sergeant when the Battalion went to Loos and he came through unwounded. Shortly afterwards, he was promoted to CSM of D Company. When RSM King left to take up a Commission, Arthur was promoted to RSM in about May 1916. He was a very popular figure, and his influence and example brought his NCOs to a high standard of efficiency. During a relief of Vimy Ridge when shelling was severe, Arthur refused to leave until the last man had left the trenches. The only way back was across the Souchez Valley, but they had only just arrived when the Germans shelled them, with shrapnel falling like rain. Arthur and three others ended up in a trench, exhausted. Arthur met his death on 15th September 1916 after a couple of days hidden in the Happy Valley. The Battalion marched off to High Wood and one of the soldiers remembers acting upon impulse and shook the hands of some of the men including Arthur. He says he was glad he did because he never saw Ridout again. Arthur met his death by an unlucky shell at High Wood.
He was apparently "sincerely missed, he had endeared himself to all and such was the affection felt for him and that I have often seen tears in the eyes of a comrade when speaking of him." – JWW (Memories, the Journal of the 19th London Regiment OCA. No 2,Vol2, Summer 1922).
Arthur is remembered at the London Cemetery and Extension, Longueval and on the Shillingstone, Dorset, War Memorial - his mother Elizabeth was living there in 1922. Shillingstone is a village near Okeford Fitzpaine, Dorset.
I have a picture of a soldier who I think is Arthur but no one can confirm it now. If anyone has further information, please let me know.
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