We will soon be adding the first poppies of 2017 to the memorial by the Baptist Church, commemorating two men who fell in the early stages of the Arras Offensive in 1917. Thankfully, there had previously been no war deaths since just before Christmas 1916.
Poppies are being added on Sunday 9th April for:
Arthur Howard Lane and William Christopher White
Arthur Howard Lane – one of four children of William and Ellen Lane, who lived in Woodmarsh. Arthur had been a farm labourer, but was probably also a Territorial, as he was sent to France with the 2nd Wiltshire Regiment early in the war, in October 1914. Arthur had married Alice Carr in 1916, and had two sons, Arthur and George (who was born after his father’s death). He was one of many lost on the first day of the Battle of Arras, Easter Monday 9th April 1917, in an attack on the Hindenberg Line. Like many others, Arthur has no known grave, but is commemorated on the Arras Memorial and the North Bradley memorials.
See more about Arthur at: Arthur Howard Lane on Lives of the First World War.
William Christopher White – one of nine children of James and Eliza White, who lived a few doors from Kings Farm. Known as Chris to his family, he worked in a grocer’s and regularly attended North Bradley Baptist Church. He enlisted in October 1915 and was sent to France in September 1916 with a Siege Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery. He was killed on 18th April 1917 near Arras. He was buried in Tilloy British Cemetery and is also commemorated on the North Bradley memorials.
See more about Chris at: William Christopher White on Lives of the First World War.
You can download an information sheet for Arthur Lane or William White from the files tab at North Bradley WW1 Commemoration Facebook group
Contact information
Facebook – join North Bradley WW1 Commemoration and post there, or send a message to the Admin, Bridget Moonraker
Twitter - @NorthBradleyWW1
Email –