The 1901 census shows Arthur (4) living with his parents and family at 18, The Green, Great Bowden. His father , William, was a Foreman in the Corset Factory and his sister Elizabeth also worked there as an Eyeletter . 

1903

1903 Death of brother, Ernest

Right: 18, The Green, Great Bowden today.

1911

2 April 1911 - 1911 Census for '18, The Green, Great Bowden'

In 1911, Arthur, now 14, was still living at 18, The Green, Great Bowden at his parents home. He was working as a Stay Hand (Corset Maker) in the Corset Factory. His father had become a Rubber Worker in a Rubber Factory.

His older sister Florence was also living at the home and had married but was soon to be divorced by her husband and had her daughter Kathleen Dorothy Tomlinson with her. Brother Fred was an assistant at the Co-op and brother Harold was a painter and decorator. Dorothy and Hilda were still at school.

1914-1915

On September 3rd 1914 at Market Harborough Arthur joined the army , when he was 18 years and 9 months old. He joined the Leicestershire Regiment at Wigston. His description on enlistment is 5’ 8.5 inches tall, 10 stone, 35.5 inch chest , fair complexion with blue eyes and dark brown hair.

Right: The Barracks, South Wigston

He was posted on 11th September 1914.  
His service records show Arthur , regimental number 12490 serving in B Company, 8th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment, No 9 Camp, Perham Down, Wiltshire on 24th September 1914. He received his inoculation shots in Aldershot on 16th and 26th October that year. 

On 7th November 1914 he was transferred and on the form it was commented ‘not being likely to become an efficient soldier’ – something he was later to prove incorrect !  

He trained and served in the Leicestershire Regiment in England, between 5th September 1914 and 28th July 1915. .
On 3rd March 1915 he was at No 9 Camp, Perham Down, Wiltshire and on 29th July 1915 was sent overseas to France to join the British Expeditionary Force fighting on the Southern Front .

He was hospitalised on 28th October 1915 with a gunshot wound to his head and he returned home wounded on 3rd November 1915.

For his service overseas he won the 1914-1915 Star & Victory Medals.

We know Arthur was posted on 3rd November 1915 we think back to Leicestershire and we have a document dated 5th November 1915 in which a payment of 6 shillings per day was paid to his mother from the Leicestershire Regiment.

1916-1917

On 2nd – 8th February 1916 Arthur was admitted to Glen Parva Military Hospital with scabies, a common affliction to those serving in WW1.  
On the 10th August 1916 he was posted again, we presume to Rugeley Camp, Staffordshire ( ironically, where we live now!) and we think this is where he met his future wife Mary Ellen Scott from Norton Canes.  

On 2nd September 1916 at Rugeley Camp he was approved for transfer from the 10th (2nd Res) Bn. Leicestershire Regiment to the Machine Gun Regiment at Grantham for the purpose of serving as a Machine Gunner. He had already served 1 year 11 months of his 3 year attestation.

He is described as 5’8”, 36” chest fully expanded with 2.5” range of expansion. He was still single and had a musketry qualification of 2nd class shot and was fully trained as a Machine Gunner with 8th (S) Bn Leicestershire Regiment and served in BEF France.

Whilst ‘courting’ Mary Ellen his previously unblemished conduct records went a little askew with the following entries made between 9th October 1916 and 12th November 1917.  
 
09.10.1916 ‘Overstaying his pass from midnight 8.10.1916 to 10am 9.10.1916’ = 5 days confined to barracks plus 1 days pay  
12.11.1916 ‘Overstaying pass from 9.30pm 12.11.16 to 10.10am 13.11.16’ = 10 days confined to barracks plus 2 days pay

24 December 1916

On Christmas Eve 1916, Arthur married Mary Ellen at Great Bowden in Leicestershire. Her father Stacey and Arthurs father William are both shown on the marriage records.  
We believe Mary Ellen continued to live in Great Bowden after she was married as Arthurs address in Dec 17 is documented as Rose Cottage, Great Bowden.

Arthur again received a reprimand on his conduct sheet on 2nd March ‘Overstaying his pass from midnight 1/3/17 to 8.30am 2/3/17 = 7 days confined to barracks plus 1 days pay’ !

On 21st August 1917 Arthur was once again posted overseas to the Southern Front at France and Belgium.  

Around the 22nd September as an Acting Corporal , he was in Wailly, France and in the Cookhouse on duty when a 22cm high velocity shell burst within a few yards of him killing one of the other cooks and covering Arthur in mud and debris.

A military doctor stated ‘He was undoubtably subjected to a very severe shock from the explosion which was very forcible.’ He then went to the Ypres front where the tanks were stationed. Nearly overcome by guns his nerves gave way under the noise and vibration.
 
On 9th October 1917 Arthur reported sick to the OC New Zealand Stationary Hospital with symptoms of Shell Shock ‘Tremor of hands. Severe headache, tachycardia. Wakes at night to a start’.  

On 13th October 1917 he was admitted to the Station Hospital and on 15th was evacuated via an ambulance train.

Arthur was sent home to England and was sent to Southern General Hospital, Birmingham from with Shell Shock from 1st November to 16th November 1917. He was then transferred to Warwick Military Hospital until 19th November 1917.

After returning to camp Arthur was granted furlough from 20th to 29th December to his home which was Rose Cottage, Great Bowden.

1918

Records dated 4th January 1918 shows Arthur was employed as an Army Cook and was considered ‘sober, reliable and intelligent’.

On 7th December 1918 Arthur was posted to the Tank Corps (formerly Machine Gun Corps) Central School in Dorset where he was a Corporal and Tank instructor.  

 On 21st February 1919 he began his dispersal at Clipstone in Mansfield. His address is Northfields, Norton Canes and his trade is listed as Steel Cutter.

He finally transferred to the Reserve Army on 22nd March 1919 having served 4 years and 201 days.

1919

15 April 1919 - Birth of son, Alan Desmond Whiting at Norton Canes, Staffordshire.

1921

24 February 1921 - Birth of daughter, Dorothy Whiting at Norton Canes, Staffordshire.

Arthur received his medals for his bravery in WW1 in 1921, where he was still living at Northfields in Norton Canes.

1924

15 August 1924 - Birth of daughter, Joan Whiting at Norton Canes, Staffordshire.

1934

Spring 1934 - Birth of daughter, Joyce Anne Whiting at Norton Canes, Staffordshire.

1939

1939 Registry for '39, Norton Green Lane, Norton Canes, Staffordshire'

Arthur and Mary Ellen continued to live in Norton Canes. They lived in the Silver Birch Road area and later in a bungalow in Breeze Avenue.

1978-1980

Sadly Mary Ellen his wife passed away on 29th May 1978, aged 81, and Arthur passed away on 7th January 1980, aged 83 after a short stay in a care home for the elderly in Stafford.

They are buried together at St James Church, Norton Canes.

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