Military History

Arthur is listed as dying of wounds on 10th April 1918 at the 3rd Australian General Hospital. His service record (see extract below) states that he was wounded in action on the 4th April and admitted to the 43rd Field Ambulance, which was stationed in an old French Field Hospital at St. Aucheul, Ameins before being evacuated to the 3rd Australian General Hospital at Abbeville.

The 8th Battalion war diary entry for the day on which Arthur was wounded, 4th April, is transcribed below.

4 Apr 1918 – 5am: Heavy enemy shelling on the whole of the Bn. sector, & particularly on the wood behind the Bn HQ This shelling included some smoke & gas shells.

5.30 a.m. Shelling lifted on to battery positions in rear.

6 a.m. Heavy shelling recommenced over the Bn. support line. Fortunately the majority of this shelling missed both these trenches by some 20/30yd* and caused very few casualties. The rain fell incessantly all the morning, & by this time the ground was sodden & very muddy, so that it was very difficult to keep rifles & L.G. in working order.

6.30 a.m. the enemy infantry attack developed. It was not so heavy on the frontage of this Bn. as on the frontage held by the 7th Buffs, & as a result of continuous rifle & L.G. fire, the attack appeared to die out across our front from N.to S. on to the frontage of the Bn. on our right.

At 7 a.m. a Sergeant of the 7th Queens reported to Bn HQ and stated that he was the leader of a liaison patrol, & that he had dropped connecting files within sight of each other on his way up from Bde. HQ as all telephone wires had already been cut, this liaison patrol proved most useful in sending back messages. As no information had come in from our front line Coys, the C.O. had already detailed O.C. D Coy to send out an Officer patrol, & in accordance with this order, 2/Lt E.G Scrase, MC took forward a section and made his way to the supporting pl. of the Left Co. He was then able to send back a message that the line was intact, & messages to the same effect were also received from the other Cos. about the same time.

Up to this time, the Battn had suffered very few casualties from the shelling but with one exception, all runners from the front & support trenches were hit on the way to Bn HQ by rifle or M.G. fire, the intervening space being quite open and swept by very accurate fire from the high ground to the S.E. In spite of their wounds, all Coy runners, with the exception of one who was killed, managed to reach Bn HQ and one of their number L/Cpl Bassett, "C" Co. is worthy of special mention in that he succeeded in delivering his message after having been hit four times.

About 9 am it could be seen from Bn HQ that several withdrawals had commenced on our left, & O.C. "D" Coy was detailed to send two platoons immediately to secure the left flank of the Battn. Before this order could be carried out, the position seemed so serious that the C.O. with Major J. Fishman MC & the Adjt. took forward all H.Q. personnel about 30** & put them in position in echelon behind the left flank of the left Coy. It appeared that the Australians, who were on the left of the 7th Buffs, had withdrawn a considerable distance, and the 7th Buffs had been forced to conform with this withdrawal. However, very shortly afterwards, the 7th Buffs came forward again & reoccupied their original positions on our left.

It was still raining heavily, & owing to the nature of the ground, the majority of which was ploughed field, rifles & L.G. became so clogged with mud that it was almost impossible to keep them clean although extra flannelette & rifle oil was sent up from details. The men's tunics and clothes were covered with liquid mud, & the mere action of inserting a fresh clip on the magazine entailed a certain amount of mud being inserted with it.

Lewis guns, in particular, proved almost impossible to keep firing, although the gunners did their best to keep them clean. In addition to using flannelette, men used their handkerchiefs, & even in one case, one man tore up the tail of his shirt in order to clean his gun. As a result of these conditions, the firepower of the Battn was reduced by at least 2/3 rds., whereas in the attack which subsequently developed, presumably, clean rifles & machine guns. In addition, it became apparent that the situation on the front of the Battn was satisfactory, & that some of the troops there had been forced to give ground.

At about 4 p.m. a fresh enemy attack developed from the line of the Marcelcave - Aubercourt road and was particularly heavy on the frontage of this Brigade. The reduced amount of fire-power which this Battn was able to produce was not sufficient to repulse the attack, & a general withdrawal commenced along the whole of the line held by the Bde. An attempt was made to form a stand on the line held by the two remaining platoons of the Res. Coy but by this time the majority of the Officers had become casualties, and a large percentage of the men were practically unarmed owing to the fact that their rifles were useless.

A stand was ultimately made about 200x west of the Villers Bretonneaux – Hangard road. All Officers had now become casualties with the exception of the O.C. Major J. Wightman MC, 2/Lt. F.A. Dawson MC and 2/Lt. A.E. Waghorn, and it was therefore very difficult to rally the men, who had also lost most of their N.C.O's. With those who were rallied, a line was formed in touch with the 7th Queens on the left, & two platoons of the R. Berks on the right, but this line was very thin.

About dusk, the C.O. sent Major Wightman, O.C. to see the Bde. Comdr. who was with the 7th Queens on our left. While talking to the General, Major Wightman was shot through the body by an enemy sniper & mortally wounded. His servant, Pte. Newman, made a very gallant attempt to get him away with the help of three men of the 7th Queens, but after two had been killed, & one wounded, he gave up the attempt and waited until it was sufficiently dark, when he succeeded with the help of three other men in carrying Major Wightman back to Furnes, a distance of about 1½ miles.

This very gallant Officer subsequently died of his wound on 9.4.18. and was buried at PIQUIGNY. He had carried out his duties for two years as a Scouting Officer, Co. Comdr., 2nd in Command & for a short period, as Battn. Comdr. with the utmost gallantry and resolution, and on many occasions, when the situation demanded it, exposed himself with complete disregard for his personal safety. His loss was a heavy blow which was felt by every Officer, N.C.O., and man in the Battn.