Pte 15241 Arthur Shaw Damsell

• Age: 21
• From: Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• K.I.A Wednesday 12th July 1916
• Commemorated at: Dive Copse B C, Sailly-le-sec
  Panel Ref: II.E.23

Arthur Shaw Damsell was born in the second quarter of 1895 in Liverpool. He was the son of Arthur and Mary Elizabeth Damsell of "Holmfield,"Victoria Park, Wavertree who had married in Beberley in 1886.

The 1901 Census finds the family at 14 Judges Drive, Liverpool. Arthur is 6 years of age. His father, also Arthur, is a merchant in provisions, namely canned goods and fruit. He was born in Liverpool in 1854. His mother Mary Elizabeth was born in Brighouse, Yorkshire in 1861. Arthur has four siblings all born in Liverpool, Beatrice b.1888, Mabel L. b. 1890, Herbert E. b.1892 and Irene C. b. 1898. There is also a servant living in the household.    

He was educated at Mill Hill School from 1907 to 1912. 

On  the 1911 Census he is not with the family, as he was studying at Mill Hill School, London. The School was founded in 1807 when its founders wisely chose its location on the top of a hillside for its fresh air, safety and natural beauty.

On the 1911 census his family were still living at 14 Judges Drive, Newsham Park. His father, Arthur, is 53 years of age and is a canned fruit Merchant, his mother, Mary Elizabeth, is aged 51. They advised that they had been married for 24 years and have had 8 children 6 of whom have survived. They have four children declared in the household; Beatrice Mary 21, Mabel Louise 21, Irene Catherine 13 at school, Horace Shaw 8 at school. There is also a cook and a housemaid living in the household.

Arthur joined the 17th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment on 31st August 1914 at St George's Hall, Liverpool as Private 15241 

He was billeted at Prescot Watch Factory from 14^th September 1914, he trained there and also at Knowsley Hall. On 30th April 1915 the 17th Battalion alongside the other three Pals battalions left Liverpool via Prescot Station for further training at Belton Park, Grantham. They remained here until September 1915 when they reached Larkhill Camp on Salisbury Plain. He arrived in France on 7^th November 1915.

Arthur was killed in action during the fighting at Trones Wood between 10^th  July 1916 and 12th July 1916, aged 21 years. 

Arthur's death was reported in the local newspapers on 28th July 1916:-

DAMSELL - July 10 or 12, killed in action, aged 21 years,  Arthur Shaw Damsell, "Pals", second son of Mr and Mrs Arthur Damsell, "Holmfield", Victoria Park, Wavertree. 

COOL UNDER FIRE

Official notice has been received by the parents of Private Arthur Shaw Damsell that he was killed in action on July 10 or 12. Private Damsell who was twenty one years of age, was educated privately and at Mill Hill School, London, where he was a member of the O.T.C. for 2 years. He joined the "Pals" the first day it was formed and went to France with the first contingent. He had been offered a commission in another regiment, but his duties in France prevented his accepting it. He was with Messrs. Pelling, Stanley and Company Limited of which company has father is chairman. His quarter-master-sergeant writes:- "your son's life was given in assisting in a glorious piece of work. Many were lost that day, including Major Higgins, but the result gave this battalion the name it now has . . . . He was reckoned to be the coolest man under the shell fire in the whole company." 

[Gores 1914 shows that the business of Pelling, Stanley and Company  is listed at 28 Mathew Street, 52 Stanley Street and 16 Walter Street, Liverpool) 

Graham Maddocks at Page 111 of his book “Liverpool Pals” describes how the 17th Battalion were involved in the fighting:

In the early hours of the morning of 10th July, following a British bombardment, men of the 90th Brigade had succeeded in taking the German positions at the tip of (Trones) Wood, but by 10.00am they had been forced out again. They had sustained no fewer than 800 casualties, most of them from German shellfire. As the 89^th Brigade was in reserve, “A” Company of the 17^th Battalion, led by Major G. F. Higgins, was lent to the 90^th Brigade to mount an attack on the German positions to relieve the pressure on its troops, many of whom were still pinned down. This attack was made at 2.30pm on a German position on the south-west corner of the wood , but the Germans were able to fire on the Liverpool men from their concealed positions and the Pals were forced to retreat. In the evening another attack was made by “A” Company and this, too, was repulsed. Guillemont remained in German hands until September 1916.

The murderous fighting that went on inside Trones Wood rendered it impossible to put specific dates on some of the casualties which is why many of the 17^th Battalion losses have been bracketed as killed in action between 10^th – 12th July 1916. The conditions are best described in the following passage from Everard Wyrall’s book The History of The King’s Regiment (Liverpool) Volume II: 

The remembrance of Trones Wood in July 1916 to those who passed through it is of a noisome, horrible place, of a tangled mass of trees and undergrowth which had been tossed and flung about in frightful confusion by the shells of both sides. Of the ghastly dead which lay about in all directions, and of DEATH, lurking in every hole and corner with greedy hands ready to snatch the lives of the unwary. The place was Death trap, and although the attacks were made with great determination, the presence of snipers who could not be detected and often fired into the backs of our men made the clearing of the wood impossible. 

He now rests at Dive Copse British Cemetery, Sailly le Sec, France.

Dive Copse Cemetery, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, is 13 miles southwest of Guillemont.  In June 1916, before the Somme offensive, the ground north of the cemetery was chosen for a concentration of field ambulances, which became the XIV Corps Main Dressing Station.  Dive Copse was a small wood close by, under the Bray-Corbie road, named after the officer commanding this station. Plots I and II were filled with burials from these medical units between July and September 1916.  Plot III contains the graves of 77 men who died in August 1918 as well as graves brought in from scattered sites and small cemeteries in the area.  The cemetery now contains 589 burials and commemorations of the First World War, 29 of which are unidentified but there are special memorials to 10 casualties known to be buried among them.  

Arthur is remembered on the following Memorials:

Liverpool Hall of Remembrance Panel 6

Wavertree Congregational Church. 

New Brighton Rugby Union Football Club

Soldiers Effects to father Arthur, no Pension record found.

Probate was granted to his father and sister some 30 years after his death in 1946.

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