Arthur Robert Bacon

Memorial: Downend - Christ Church

Regiment: Royal Engineers

Medals: British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Driver 2847, 500468

Parents: Arthur and Charlotte Sarah Bacon

Home address: 2 Midland Road, Soundwell, Staple Hill, Bristol

Pre-war occupation: Boot and Shoe Errand Boy (1911)

Date of birth: 16/02/1897

Place of birth: Norwich

Date of death: 04/10/1918

Buried/Commemorated at: Buried at Mangotsfield (Downend) Cemetery, Gloucestershire and commemorated on Staple Hill Memorial

Age: 21

Further information:

Arthur was born in Norwich and was the eldest child of 3 with a younger brother and sister. In 1901 his father was working as a shoemaker and the family were living in Bristol. Eight years later, when Arthur was 12, his father died and by 1911 his widowed mother and the family were living in No. 5 Soundwell Road, Staple Hill. At that time Arthur's mother was working as a fitter in the boot trade whilst Arthur was working as an errand boy.

Arthur enlisted in Bristol and with the 57th divisional signals saw action overseas in 1917 at the second battle of Passchendaele and the battle of Lys in Belgium. He also saw action in the Battles of the Hindenburg line and the second battle of Arras in France in 1918.

At the time of his death Arthur was based at the Territorial Force Depot in Pier Road Gillingham Kent. However, he died at home from nephritis.

Also recorded on the Staple Hill Methodists Church Memorial.

By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):

This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Findmypast (Soldiers Died during the Great War, 1901 and 1911 Census), researcher John Davis