Arthur Hepworth

War Service

During the bombing of London in WWII, most of the service records of army personnel who served in WWI were destroyed. However, snippets of information have been gleaned from the “British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914 – 1920”.
Arthur’s medal index card states:
“THEATRE OF WAR - Egypt, QUALIFYING DATE – 22.12.15, ACTION TAKEN - missing, Reg. No.12/1265”.
This information suggests that when Arthur enlisted at Normanton he probably joined the 12th Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. Although the Commonwealth War Grave Commission Records show:
“Hepworth, A. Private 1265 (not 12/1265 as recorded on the Card index)
A Coy. 9th Bn. King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
Recorded date of death – 26 April 1918.”
There is a similarity to:
“Ambler, E. Private 12/1280 12th Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
Recorded date of death – 24 April 1918.”
With only “15” between the two regimental numbers, they may even have enlisted on the same day.
So there are two scenarios:
1. Assuming Arthur was in the 12th Battalion then he would have been in the same action as Ernest Amber (see his entry on this website).
2. Alternatively, assuming Arthur Hepworth transferred to the 9th Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, they were also in action in April 1918.
In the late afternoon of 19 April orders were received by the 9th Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry to relieve the battalions in Onraet Wood, Wytschaete. The relief was completed but proved very difficult as there were many gaps in the line and no communication trenches. On 20 and 21 April a number of officers and men in the battalion were killed or wounded after being fired upon by their own heavy guns.
On 23 April the battalion was relieved by the 1st East Yorkshire Regiment with a view to the men being rested in readiness for taking part in the attack on Wytschaete on the morning of 26 April. However, in the early morning of 25 April the Battalion came under heavy gas bombardment prior to the German attack. Later that day the battalion came under further gas attacks, which affected most of the officers and a great number of the men. The German attack continued with heavy machine gun fire. Later that day the battalion repositioned and held the German attack and brought it to a standstill. The battalion continued until dark to hold the German advance and to inflict losses.
In the early hours of 26 April orders were received for the battalion to attack at 4.25am. There seems to have been some confusion and lack of communication because at the due time the 9th battalion attacked, only to find that they were on their own with no support on either flank.
Commonwealth War Graves have recorded Arthur’s age as 25 years old when he was killed in action on 26 April 1918 but other records suggest Arthur’s date of birth was in the second quarter of 1890 which would suggest Arthur was 27/28 years old when he made the ultimate sacrifice. Arthur has no known grave but is one of the 35,000 men remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the missing. Army records show that Arthur left his effects to his sister Annie.
The inscription carved on the frieze above the panels, which contain the names of the missing, reads:
1914 – HERE ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE ARMIES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO FELL IN YPRES SALIENT, BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH – 1918.

Family Life

Arthur was born in 1890 in Altofts, the fifth child of Richard and Elizabeth Hepworth. Richard was born in Womersley, Yorkshire, later he moved to live in the Normanton area where he met and married Elizabeth Bramham of Altofts in All Saints Parish Church Normanton on 27 January 1877.
The family home address, recorded in the 1891 Census, was Church Road, Altofts (Higher) more commonly known as Upper Altofts. When Arthur came into the world he joined three older brothers: George, William and Harry and an older sister Annie.
At the age of ten years Arthur lived with his parents, two older brothers George and Harry and sister Annie at 7, Lawns View, Altofts. William, Arthur’s brother, left the family home when he married Ada Bettley of Normanton on 9 February 1901.
Sadly, early in 1907 Arthur’s father died and by the spring of 1911 George and Annie had left the family home. Arthur remained at home, living with his mother and older brother, both boys worked at one of the local coalmines. Sadness was to strike the family again when Arthur’s mother Elizabeth died in 1916 – she was 62 years old.

Tyne Cot Memorial