Archibald Butler
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Archibald was the son of Edwin Alfred and Ellen Butler (née Bass). His father was born in Syston, Leicestershire, in 1855, the son of Thomas Henry and Mary Ann Butler. His mother was born in Shelton, Bedfordshire, in 1861. They were married at Leicester St Margaret in July1882 and had seven children, five of whom survived childhood. Their five surviving children were Winifred Helen b. Leicester 1883 and Edith Mary b. 1890, Harold b. 1892, Archibald (Archie) b. 1893 (O/N/D) and Nora Christine b. 1896 who were born in Radford, Nottingham. One of the children who died young was Thomas Edwin who was born in 1885 (reg. Nottingham, mother's maiden name Bass). Thomas was recorded on the 1891 Census but has not yet been traced on records after this date. Edwin and Ellen were living in Leicester when their daughter Winifred was born, but had moved to Nottingham by 1885 when Thomas was born. The family was recorded on the 1891 Census living on Radford Boulevard, Radford: Edwin, Ellen and their three children Winifred, Thomas (5) and Edith (5 months). Also in the household was a 'nurse girl', thirteen year old Sarah Lester. In 1901, Edwin, a pawnbroker (own account), and Ellen with their five surviving children, Winifred, Edith, Harold, Archibald and Nora, together with a general domestic servant, were living at 4 Willoughby Avenue, Nottingham. The family had moved to The Poplars, Loughborough Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, by 1911. Four of the five children were in the home on the night of the census: Winifred, Edith, Archibald, a pawnbroker's assistant, and Nora. Edwin and Ellen employed one female domestic servant. The eldest son, Harold, was recorded on the census at Crownhill Barracks, Crownhill, nr. Plymouth, Devon, where he was serving with the 2nd Bn. Sherwood Foresters. No records of his miltary service have yet been traced so it is not known whether he served in the war. Edwin Alfred died at his home, The Poplars, on 19 June 1917, two months after the death of his son. He was buried in Nottingham General Cemetery. Archibald's fiancée, Elizabeth Nora Etheridge (b. 1895), was his legatee and in 1919 completed a form for the Army listing Archibald's surviving blood relatives: mother Ellen Butler, The Poplars Loughborough Road West Bridgford, brother Harold (28) and sister Nora Butler (22) of the same address. Sisters Winnie Wade (38), Balmoral Avenue Nottingham and Edith Hadfield (27), Teddington London. Winifred Helen married Ernest A Wade in 1911 and Edith Mary married Frank Hadfield in 1915 while Nora Christine was to marry Reginald H Pillin in 1923. Harold married Elizabeth Mills in 1922. Three of Archibald's siblings, Harold, Edith and Nora, were still living in West Bridgford in 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled. Their sister Winifred and their mother Ellen have not yet been traced after the war years.
9th (Service) Bn. King's Royal Rifle Corps. The battalion was raised in Winchester on 21 August 1914 as part of Kitchener's new army and was under order of 42nd Brigade, 14th (Light Infantry) Division. It trained at Aldershot, then moved to Petworth in November 1914 before returning to Aldershot in March 1915. It was posted to the BEF France, landing at Boulogne on 20 May 1915. Archibald attested on a Short Service Engagement (3 years with the Colours) on 10 September 1914 and was posted to the King's Royal Rifle Corps (Rifleman). He joined at Manchester on 13 September and was posted to the 9th Battalion on the 17th. He was appointed unpaid lance corporal on 26 December 1914 and authorised to draw the pay of a lance corporal on 22 March the following year. He was then appointed acting corporal in June 1916, a promotion confirmed on 9 November 1916 with an appointment to acting sergeant the same day. Archibald served at home from 10 September 1914 to 20 May 1915 then with the BEF France from 21 May. However, he was wounded a month later on 21 June 1915, suffering gunshot wounds to the left side ('back'), and was admitted to No. 10 General Hospital Rouen the same day. He was medically evacuated to England and admitted to the University War Hospital Southampton on 6 July then transferred to the Convalescent Hospital Eastbourne on 30 July. Archibald remained at the Convalescent Hospital until 11 September 1915 after which he was discharged to the Depot. He did not return to France until 22 October 1916, embarking at Southampton for Le Havre where he disembarked the same day. He joined the 9th Bn. in the field on 27 October. The 14th (Light Infantry) Division fought the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line in 1917 and would have taken part in the First Battle of the Scarpe, 9-14 April. Archibald was killed in action on Easter Monday, 9 April 1917, and is buried in Tilloy British Cemetery, Tilloy-Les-Mofflaines, France (grave ref III.A.4). The history of the Cemetery indicates that his grave was probably brought in after the Armistice. Service: Home 10 September 1914-20 May 1915 (253 days). BEF 21 May 1915-4 July 1915 (45 days). 5 July 1915-21 October 1916 (1y 119 days). 22 October 1916 - 9 April 1917 (170 days). Total 2 years 213 days. He qualified for the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. CWGC - History of Tilloy British Cemetery (extract): The village of Tilloy-les-Mofflaines is 3km from Arras. 'Tilloy-Les-Mofflaines was taken by Commonwealth troops on 9 April 1917, but it was partly in German hands again from March to August 1918. The cemetery was begun in April 1917 by fighting units and burial officers, and Rows A to H in Plot I largely represent burials from the battlefield. The remaining graves in Plot I, and others in the first three rows of Plot II, represent later fighting in 1917 and the first three months of 1918, and the clearing of the village in August 1918. These 390 original burials were increased after the Armistice when graves were brought in from a wide area east of Arras and from the following smaller burial grounds [listed].' Many of these burial grounds and cemeteries had burials of 14th (Light Infantry) Division casualties of April 1917, including Harp Redoubt Cemetery, Tilloy- Les-Mofflaines, which contained the graves of 36 soldiers of the KRRC. (www.cwgc.org)
There is a memorial at Hill 60, Zillebeke, Belgium, to the 14th (Light Infantry) Division, who were casualties in the fighting in the area between 1915 and 1918. The memorial is located outside the Hill 60 Battlefield Memorial Park. Mundella Magazine, Christmas 1918, ROH:' Butler, A, Sergt, KRR. At Albert Street School Bulwell Nottingham, on April 20th 1917, the head teacher wrote 'Great sorrow was occasioned by the sad news arriving at school today that the fiancé of Miss Nancy [Elizabeth Nora] Etheridge was killed in action in France on Easter Monday (Sergeant Archie Butler of West Bridgford). Miss Etheridge was absent today through grief and collapse.' (Source: David Nunn Britannia Calls: Nottingham schools and the push for Great War Victory (p.133) Probate: Butler Archie of the Poplars Loughborough-road West Bridgford Nottinghamshire acting sergeant in HM Army died 9 April 1917 in France Administration (with Will) Nottingham 14 December to Elizabeth Nora Etheridge spinster. Effects £49 12s. 5d. Registers of Soldiers' Effects: Elizabeth Etheridge was Butler's sole legatee. As his legatee, Elizabeth Nora Etheridge received Archibald's medals, the scroll and his private possessions although the latter, from the documentary evidence in his army record, may have only been a 'disc', presumably his identity disc. She also received a letter from the army in April 1919 accompanying 'Princess Mary's Gift granted to all soldiers serving on 24th December 1915' and including a request for a receipt for the package, which Elizabeth Nora sent on 15 April. Elizabeth Nora's address was given as 22 Charnwood Grove, West Bridgford, and she was still living at the same address with her mother Mary Elizabeth Etheridge in 1921. Elizabeth Nora has not yet been traced after this date. The ‘West Bridgford Advertiser’ of 18 August 1917, reported on the award of probate of Edwin Alfred Butler's Will. Probate was granted to his widow and sons-in-law Arthur William Wade of West Bridgford, and Frank Hadfield of Upper Clapton. After bequests to charity and two of his managers, he left sums to his wife and children including his son Archibald, ‘if the report of the death of his son Archibald in action shall prove to be correct', he left (amount illegible) to Miss Bessie (sic) Etheridge, his said son’s fiancée.’ The wording of the Will indicates that Edwin, who died in June, updated his Will after 9 April 1917 but that the report of his son's death might have been unconfirmed eg. 'missing presumed killed.'
