Pte 52266 Arthur Wood

• Age: 23
• From: Manchester
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 20th Btn
• K.I.A Thursday 12th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Thiepval Memorial
  Panel Ref: P&F1D8B &8 C.

Arthur Wood was born in Failsworth, northeast Manchester, in the March quarter of 1893,  the son of George Frederick Wood and his wife Mary Elizabeth (née Henderson). His father, born in Newcastle under Lyne, Staffordshire, and his mother, from Manchester, married in 1889, and had nine children, one of whom died young. Arthur had older siblings Frederick and Florence, and younger siblings Ernest (died in infancy), Lily, Alice, Sidney, Norman, and Dora. 

The 1901 census finds the family at 28 Prestage Street, Stretford, with six children. His father, 33, is a railway constable, his mother is 32, Arthur is 8.  Also in the household are his uncle William Henderson, 52, and cousin Florence Hopkins, 29. 

They are still at 28 Prestage Street in 1911, with eight children. Head of household is William Henderson, 63. His father is 44, an electric tram conductor for Manchester Corporation, and his mother is 42.  Frederick is 21, a clerk for a cotton manufacturer, Florence, 19, and Lily, 15, have no occupation.  Arthur is 18, an electric motor mechanic, Alice is 13, Sidney 10, Norman 8, and Dora 7 months old.

Arthur enlisted in Manchester and was formerly Private 3000 of The Manchester Regiment and following a transfer he was serving in the 20th Battalion (“A” Company), The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 52266 when he was killed in action on the 12th October 1916 aged 23 during the Battle of the Transloy Ridges which was part of the ongoing Somme Offensive.

According to the 20^th Bn War Diary, on 10th October 1916 the battalion marched from Dernancourt via Mametz to Bazentin Le Grand where it bivouacked for the night. The next day the battalion moved up to site for assembly trenches, arriving about 11 p.m., where it dug in two good trenches, Nos.1 and 2 Coys front and Nos.3 and 4 Coys in rear.

From the War Diary:

Near Eaucourt L’Abbaye.  12/10/1916. The 4^th British and 6^th French armies continued the attack. Zero 2.5 p.m.  The whole XVth Corps attacked […]  The attack of 89^th Inf Bde was carried out with 2^nd Bn Bedf Regt on right, 17^th Bn KLR on left, 20^th Bn KLR in support, 19^th Bn KLR in reserve.  Battalions attacked in four waves. On the departure of the attacking battalions Nos. 1 and 2 companies advanced, each in two waves, to garrison the front line trench vacated by 2^nd Bn Bedf Regt on right and 17^th KLR on left. On Nos 1 and 2 Coys vacating front assembly trench, it was occupied by two platoons of Nos. 3 and 4 Coys respectively, from rear assembly trench. As the assaulting waves left their trenches they were met by intense machine gun fire, especially on our left. The enemy also opened heavy barrages on our front support and assembly trenches. […] Capt. H. Beckett, commanding No.1 company, reached the front line with few casualties, but Lieut R.D. Paterson leading No.2 company was killed. His company also had few casualties. The assaulting battalions were held up by very heavy machine gun fire, and made little progress.  […] At 4.20 p.m. two platoons, No.4 Coy, under Cpl Brighouse, were sent up to reinforce the left, and No.3 Coy under Cpl Sutton followed at 4.45 p.m.  Battalion HQ moved up to front line at 4.55 and remaining two platoons of No.4 Coy moved up to join Cpl Brighouse. 

Casualties during action: 

Officers – Killed Lieut. R.D. Paterson, 2^nd Lieut G.L. Grennan, Wounded – 2^nd Lieuts A.E. Griffin, L.E. Mclean Hayes, C. Buttemer, Wounded Cpl g. Brighouse.

Other Ranks killed – 20. 

It had rained incessantly at the beginning of October 1916 and the ground was full of mud. In his book ‘The Liverpool Pals’ Graham Maddocks describes the day Herbert was killed.

It was obvious that the Germans knew an attack was coming and from which direction it would be mounted. On the evening of the 11th the 20th Battalion moved up the line and dug two deep assembly trenches behind the 17th Battalion’s position for the attack the next day. The 19th Battalion also moved into its reserve positions known as Flers Trench. Although the rain has stopped, the ground was like a morass, with all the natural vegetation destroyed, it was difficult to tell exactly where the objectives lay. On the afternoon of the 12th at exactly 2.05pm, the attack began along the whole Corps line, covered by the local batteries of the Royal Field Artillery which still had line of sight. As the whistles blew, the 17th Battalion left its trenches to move forwards, at the same time No.1 and 2 Companies of the 20th Battalion moved forward and occupied the trenches vacated by the 17th. As they too went over the top, No.3 and 4 Companies took their place and waited in their turn to follow. No.2 and 3 Companies of the 19th Battalion moved up to occupy the assembly trenches dug the previous night by the 20th.

As soon as the attacking waves left their trenches the enemy artillery began to register on them and at the same time the defending infantry commenced a murderous rain of fire. Those German regiments were trained and experienced soldiers, well dug in on high ground, and for the most part, looking out on uncut wire. As such it was virtually impossible for them to miss the City Battalion men struggling to advance in the mud towards them.

Brigadier-General F.C.Stanley wrote that the Battalions were also suffering casualties due to the short shooting of the British heavy artillery fire. “I know from practical experience that they were our own guns which were shooting, and which were causing us quite a considerable number of casualties. The fault lay at that time from the fact that the heavy gunners would not send their FOO’s (Forward Observation Officers) far enough forward, but were content to observe us from right back”

Some ground was gained that day, about 150 yards, the 20th Battalion were not relieved until 24 hours later causing the men to endure another day and night in the front line trench.

Arthur's body was not recovered or was subsequeenlty lost as he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Misisng of the Somme, France. 

The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.

On 01st August 1932 the Prince of Wales and the President of France inaugurated the Thiepval Memorial in Picardy. The inscription reads: “Here are recorded the names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields between July 1915 and March 1918 but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.”

Based on the amount of the War Gratuity, Arthur served for two years, enlisting in about October 1914. The Medal Roll for the British War and Victory Medals shows only 20th Bn K.L.R., and a 1914-1915 Star roll has not been found, suggesting that Arthur did not proceed overseas until 1916, already having been transferred to the 20th K.L.R.  

Arthur was initially declared Missing on 12th October 1916.  In the Manchester Evening News on 28th October:

“The relatives of the following soldiers, who are reported missing, would be glad to receive news concerning them:  Pte. Arthur Wood (3000) Manchester Regiment (attached King’s Liverpool Regiment), missing October 12.  Mother: 91 Russell Street, Moss Side, Manchester.” 

It was not until nearly a year later that Arthur’s death was officially accepted as having occurred (at Bapaume, per Soldiers’ Effects) on 12th October 1916, published in the Weekly Casualty List on 11th September 1917:

“Previously missing, now reported killed, K.L.R:  Wood 52266 (Manchester) A.” 

His mother received his Army effects, including a War Gratuity of £9, and the pension card in the name of his mother, 91 Russell Street, Moss Side, shows that she was awarded a pension of 6/- a week from May 1917, increased to 11/- from July 1917. 

In 1939 his parents are living at 39 Nettleburn Road, Manchester. His father is 74, Corporation tram driver (retired), his mother is 71.  Both his parents appear to have lived through the Second World War, and died in the 1940s. 

Arthur Wood is commemorated on the following Memorials: 

St. Hilda’s Church, Stretford 

Borough of Stretford WW1 Book of Remembrance 

We currently have no further information on Arthur Wood, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.