Arthur George Bond
Memorial: Olveston
Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment
Medals: British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Private 266731 (4935)
Date of birth: 1896
Place of birth: Rudgeway, Glos
Date of death: 19/07/1916
Buried/Commemorated at: Loos Memorial (Panel 60 to 64), Pas-de-Calais, France
Further information:
Arthur would have gone to the school in Rudgeway with his brother and younger sister. His father was employed as a general labourer and the likelihood is that Arthur followed in his footsteps
When the call to arms came, Arthur, who was then eighteen, enlisted in Bristol and was assigned to the 2nd/6th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment. Frederick Feltham from Lower Hazel was also in this Battalion and although four years older than Arthur, they would have known each other at school
Early in the war the 2nd/6th Battalion was sent over to France and by July 1916 they were in the Fauquissart area. On July 10th Arthur and Fred Feltham were in trenches preparing for a raid into enemy held territory. By the 14th everything had been prepared for a gas attack on the German positions but the wind failed and the raid was cancelled. Within twenty-four hours the battalion was relieved by the 2nd/4th Glosters and the 2nd/4th Royal Berkshire Regiment and withdrew to be billeted at Laventie. However, their break was short-lived and by July 16th they had moved back to their old trenches and had taken over part of the line from the 2nd/4th Glosters. The next two days were spent waiting for orders to attack but these were not forthcoming as it was felt that the allied force was insufficiently prepared. On July 19th at 11.00am the Germans commenced a bombardment causing some fifty casualties amongst the 2nd/6th Glosters. “We returned the artillery bombardment throughout the afternoon and the men in the trenches went over the top at 5.40pm. Our gun barrage was stopped at 7.00pm and two more waves of the 4th Glosters Battalion went out. The men were practically blown back as they went over as a result of the German machine gun fire and the shrapnel.” The German artillery fire was again concentrated on the east end of the line where the 2nd/6th Glosters were located and despite the bombardment, orders were received at 8.00pm to attack again. In this brief assault, thirteen officers and one hundred and sixty-five other ranks of the Battalion had died, and orders were received at 9.00pm to prepare for relief by the 2nd/7th Worcestershire Regiment, which was completed by 2.00am. Arthur Bond and Frederick Feltham had lost their lives and their names are recorded on the Loos Memorial to the north-west of Lens, as are the names of 20,587 others
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
Forces War Records and CWGC