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Rflm. Arthur Henry Gurr
British Army 12th Btn. London Regiment
from:Camberwell, London
Arthur Henry Gurr my Grandfather, was born January 1892 in Camberwell, London and attended Boundary Lane School in Southwark. He began his working life as an ‘envelope addresser’. Arthur enlisted in the 12th London Regiment and it seems likely from available documents and photographs that he was in No.10 Platoon, C Company. The Battalion was transferred to Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire and occupied huts at Longbridge Deverill. They were engaged in training and digging trenches for an artillery practice range and earned "an enhanced reputation for good work and soldierly conduct under discomfort". On 5th February 1917 the Battalion left for France and by the 14th they joined Battalions of the 146th Infantry Brigade who were holding the front line in front of Bailleulmont.
Early Autumn 1917 saw the Battalion advancing to the Yser Canal, Ypres. The Battalion moved up to assembly positions on the 25th September preparatory to the attack on the ridge N.E. of St. Julien. This being part of the Third Battle of Ypres. Following a heavy artillery barrage on the morning of the 26th September at 0530hrs ‘B’ Company of the 12th London’s advanced with the 2/9th London’s (Queen Victoria Rifles) The 2/9th found it difficult to maintain the correct direction due to heavy fog, boggy ground and taking heavy fire from a German trench and machine guns in a nearby pillbox. There were many casualties. They pressed on, neutralising both positions. However they stopped 1/4 mile short of their objective. ‘B’ Company of the 12th took its objective but having failed to make contact with the 2/9th Battalion pulled back to secure its flanks. Arthur and his comrades of ‘C’ Company went ‘over the top’ at 0611hrs and were tasked with attacking an enemy pillbox positioned on the ridge. ‘C’ Company was "magnificently led" by Captain Hardy, and after a sharp fight captured the German pillbox, together with "numerous prisoners". The action of Rifleman Ratcliffe was noted as "exceptional" having found himself in charge of the remnants of No 10 Platoon, being one of only four survivors (another being Arthur) collected a few men who had strayed from another Battalion (possibly 2/9ths), including a Company Sergeant Major and a Lewis Gun party and took up a position covering the flank of his Company. Together with the remaining No 10 Platoon men this disparate group held the flank with the aid of a captured German machine gun. Rifleman Ratcliffe was awarded the Military Medal. Communication with Battalion HQ was achieved by 22 year old Lance-Corporal Fred Aldridge within 15 minutes of ‘C’ Company reaching its objective (see the related post on this web site).
A family story has it that Arthur was at some point gassed and had also suffered a hernia carrying a Lewis Gun ‘over the top’. It may have been due to Arthur’s medical problems that in about February 1918 he was transferred to the Labour Corps. Arthur survived the War and returned to the printing trade. In 1926 he married Annie Neaves, whose brother James, an Artillery Gunner, had been killed near Ypres in 1918. Arthur died in Lambeth, London in 1943 at the age of 51.
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