Arthur Spencer
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
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Arthur Spencer was born in Woodborough in 1892 the son of Richard and Elizabeth . In the 1901 census a Richard and Elizabeth Spencer are recorded as living at 73 Row Lane. They had a son called Arthur aged 8 years, also three daughters – Elizabeth, Florence and Lois and another son called George. Richard and Elizabeth were framework knitter and seamstress respectively. Later information has Arthur down as a framework knitter and living on Shelt Hill. In the 1911 census he is shown with his family living on Main Street, Woodborough , he is single and works as a framework knitter at home. He has 8 siblings.
He originally enlisted into the army as a territorial on 19th November 1908 at Epperstone into the 1/8th Bn Sherwood Foresters ( Notts and Derbys) Regiment .He was 17yrs and 6 months of age at this time. He was regularly re engaged as a territorial until the outbreak of the war when on 5th October 1914 he enlisted into the regular Army. On the 1st September 1915 he was promoted to Lance Corporal. His Battalion was part of the 46th (North Midland) Division and it was partly their task to recapture the Hohenzollern Redoubt situated on slightly higher ground near the town of Loos. A North Midland memorial stands near the spot where the division commenced their attack on the enemy on 13th October 1915. It is just on the outskirts of the village of Vermelles. Their target, the Hohenzollern Redoubt lay to the north east of this point. To reach the enemy, the battalion had to cross open territory and naturally became prime targets. Not only had they to overcome gunfire but also the use of gas. The fighting intensified and there were very many casualties. Out of the whole division 180 officers and 3,500 other ranks were lost in the battle. Because of the ferocity of the fighting during this battle many men were killed in action and their bodies were never recovered. They simply vanished from the face of the earth. Arthur was one such person and as his body was never found; his name is commemorated on the Loos Memorial at the British War Cemetery, Loos. His name is one of 21,000 names commemorated on the memorial walls. Most of these listed men fell at the Battle of Loos. The Battle of Loos was a disaster for the British Army and led to the forced resignation of Sir John French, the Commander in Chief, who was superseded by General Haig.
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