12th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
Arthur Leonard Griffin was born at Gloucester in 1880, the son of James (a publican) and Harriet Griffin. On 4 August 1902 he married Annie Webber (born 17 September 1881) at St. Nicholas Church, Gloucester and at the time of the 1911 Census the couple were living at Pineapple Inn, Westgate Street, Gloucester. They had lost one child in infancy (Edward John, born 1903) but by the time Arthur entered the Army they had four: Leslie Stuart (born 1906), Stanley (1911), Irene Dorothy (1913) and Peggy Doreen (1915).
Arthur attested for military service on 8 December 1915 and was placed into the Army Reserve. At attestation he stated his occupation to be a vegetable preserver with a pickle and jam maker. He was a foreman at the firm of John Stephenson of Kingsholm and had been employed by them for 22 years. His age, upon attestation was stated to be 35 years and six months and his address the Pineapple Inn.
He was mobilised on 25 January 1917 and spent the period up to 11 May 1917 training in the UK, joining the 8th Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment at Rouen on 12 May 1917. His stay with the 8th Battalion lasted about three weeks as on 2 June he joined the 12th Battalion, who were serving in the field, as part of 95 Brigade, 5th Division.
Ill health manifested itself shortly after. On 17 June 1917 he was treated at 23 Casualty Clearing Station and on 11 July at No 22 General Hospital at Camiers, on the Channel coast. As there was no improvement in his condition on 19 July he was evacuated to England and the Bradford War Hospital: his service on the Western Front had lasted 69 days.
A medical board at Bradford War Hospital heard that Arthur had been diagnosed with pyrexia of unknown origin (otherwise undetermined infection — possibly ‘trench fever’). He suffered from pains in the head, back and legs and had experienced temperatures up to 101 degrees F. Evidently he had suffered from indigestion and sickness ‘for many years’ and also constipation. About 12 years previously he had experienced an epileptic fit. The Board agreed that the infection was attributable to military service and agreed to his discharge as ‘no longer physically fit for war service’. This was with effect from 5 November 1917 and he was awarded a Silver War Badge, as an indicator of previous military service. He was granted at 50% disability pension, reviewable in 3 months. There was a further similar renewal on 15 October 1917.
Arthur Griffin died in Gloucester Royal Infirmary on 30 June 1918, age 37. The exact cause of death is unknown. According to a funeral report in the Gloucester Journal of 13 July 1918 following his discharge from Bradford War Hospital he returned home only to be re-admitted to the Red Cross Hospital, Great Western Road, Gloucester but had returned home for eight weeks, prior to his admission to the Royal infirmary, where he died. A recently released Pension Record Card states that he died of wounds received and the card is marked ‘case opened from letter stating man died after operation’. He was afforded a semi military funeral at St Mary de Lode Church before interment at Gloucester Old Cemetery, where a standard CWGC headstone marks his grave.
In between attestation and Arthur’s death the family had moved to 46 Park Street, Gloucester and his widow, Annie and their four children continued to live there after the war
Researched by Graham Adams 13 February 2020 (revised)