PRIVATE ARNOLD OWEN

ARNOLD OWEN son of Richard and Agnes Owen was born in 1895 and was born in Troway, Derbyshire. According to 1901 Census on Ancestry, Arnold was 6 years of age and lived with his brother Arthur, and his parents at 48 Queen Street, Mosbro.. His father Richard worked in the colliery as a coal miner Hewer and Arnold at 16 years old followed in his father’s footsteps and worked as a Pony Driver below ground in the colliery. They all lived together at 61 Queen Street Mosbro with his sister Annie age 5 years old (according to the 1911 Census on Ancestry).

1901 Census 1911 Census

In the First World War Arnold enlisted in Sheffield and joined the1st Battalion Coldstream Guards. He was aged 19 years old, his regimental Service Number was 15063.

Coldstream Guards during WWI

During the First World War the Regiment gained 36 Battle Honours and 7 Victoria Crosses, losing 3,860 men during the course of the war. Arnold was in the 1^st Battalion and probably served in the battles below:

1st Battalion – 04.08.1914 Stationed at Aldershot as part of the 1st (Guards) Brigade of the 1st Division. Aug 1914 Mobilised for war and move to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.) and engaged in various actions on the Western Front including1914 The Battle of Mons and the subsequent retreat, The Battle of the Marne, The Battle of the Aisne, First Battle of Ypres.1915 Winter Operations 1914-15, The Battle of Aubers, The Battle of Loos.
25.08.1915 Transferred to the 2nd (Guards) Brigade of the same Division.
1916 The Battle of Albert, The Battle of Bazentin, The Battle of Pozieres, The Battle of Flers-Courcelette, The Battle of Morval.

Arnold was killed in action at France and Flanders in the Western European Theatre and died on 29 June 1916 at the age of 21. He was buried at Essex Farm Cemetery, Ypres (Ieper), Arrondissement Ieper, West Flanders (West-Vlaanderen), Belgium.

Essex Farm Cemetery, Grave Reference II.M.27

Essex Farm Cemetery is located near a village called Boezinge in Belgium. The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield. The burials were made without a definite plan and some of the divisions which occupied this sector may be traced in almost every part of the cemetery. In the North West corner of the cemetery is a Cross of Sacrifice, designed by Blomfield and recognisable throughout the world. Blomfield also designed Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, located near Essex Farm Cemetery. It was at Essex Farm Cemetery that Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae of the Canadian Army Medical Corps wrote the poem In Flanders Fields in May 1915.

Listed below is the place of burial and inscription on the headstone, which says:

“BLESSED IS HE WHO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR OTHERS”

Arnold was awarded medals below:

The 1915 Star Medal The Victory Medal The British Medal

Memorial Death Plaque Of WWI

The next of kin for Arnold Owen would have been sent this death plaque after the war to commemorate all of the war dead. Over 1 million were issued in total.