Private Arthur James Lilley was a Kentish carman who served with the 8th (Service) Battalion, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), during the First World War. He fought on the Western Front from 1915 until his death in Belgium on 9 September 1917, during the Third Battle of Ypres. Because his body was never identified, his name is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing. [1][2]
Arthur Lilley’s service carried him from Teynham and Chatham into a battalion that fought at Loos, on the Somme, at Vimy Ridge, Messines and Passchendaele.
Early Life and Family
Arthur James Lilley was born in about October 1893 at Teynham, Kent. His birth was registered in the Faversham district, although the registration appears under the variant spelling “Lily”. He was baptised on 17 January 1894 at St Mary’s Church, Teynham, providing a further record of his origins and of the name used by his family. [1]
Arthur was the son of Alfred Stephen Lilley and Rosetta Gurr. In the 1901 census he was living at 51 Queens Road, Chatham, as an eight-year-old son in the family household. By 1911 he was still in Chatham and was recorded as an eighteen-year-old son. The census entry preserves the family’s connection with the Medway towns, an area strongly associated with the Royal Navy, the Army and military industry. [1]
By 1915 Arthur was living at 16 First Avenue, Luton, Kent. His occupation was recorded as a carman on 9 December 1915. A carman was a driver or transport worker responsible for moving goods, often by horse-drawn cart or early motor vehicle. This was skilled and physically demanding employment, and it would have given Arthur practical experience of transport and logistics before and during his military service. [1]
No spouse or children are recorded in the supplied family report. He was the first cousin three times removed of the researcher, and his memory has survived through civil registration, census material, pension records, military documents and the commemoration of his death in Belgium. [1]
Military Service
Arthur served under the number G/11937 as a Private in the 8th Battalion, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). The battalion was a wartime Service battalion formed at Maidstone on 12 September 1914 as part of the Third New Army, commonly known as K3. It joined the 72nd Brigade in the 24th Division and trained first at Shoreham and Worthing before returning to Shoreham and later moving to Blackdown. [1][3]
The battalion mobilised for overseas service in August 1915 and landed at Boulogne on 30 August. From that point it became an operational infantry unit on the Western Front. Its job was to occupy front-line trenches, conduct patrols and raids, attack enemy positions, consolidate captured ground and withstand counter-attacks. As a Service battalion, it contained many wartime volunteers who had trained together in Britain before being committed to the battlefield. [1][3]
The 8th Royal West Kent’s operational history was extensive. In 1915 it fought at the Battle of Loos. In 1916 it took part in the German gas attack at Wulverghem and in the Somme battles of Delville Wood and Guillemont. During 1917 it fought at Vimy Ridge, Messines, Pilckem Ridge and Langemarck, before later taking part in the Cambrai operations. These repeated engagements meant that Arthur’s battalion had endured several years of attritional warfare before he was killed. [1]
Unit Context at the Time of Death
Arthur died on 9 September 1917, during the Third Battle of Ypres, often known as Passchendaele. The battle began on 31 July 1917 and continued until November, as British and Commonwealth forces attempted to break through the German defences around the Ypres Salient. The campaign was fought in difficult conditions of mud, shell-damaged drainage systems, heavy rain and intense artillery fire. [1][4]
The 8th Royal West Kent had already fought at Vimy Ridge and Messines earlier in 1917 before moving into the Ypres sector. The Battle of Pilckem Ridge opened on 31 July, and the Battle of Langemarck followed from 16 to 18 August. These operations were designed to push eastwards from the Ypres Salient and capture the German defensive positions protecting the approaches to the high ground beyond Passchendaele. [1][5]
Although Arthur’s official date of death falls after Langemarck, the battalion remained within the continuing Ypres offensive. Even when a battalion was not making a major assault, its men could be exposed to shelling, raids, machine-gun fire, gas, patrols and the dangerous work of relieving troops or holding newly captured positions. The date therefore places Arthur within the continuing attritional struggle around the Ypres battlefield rather than at a moment of quiet or withdrawal.
The battalion’s role at this stage was that of front-line infantry. It formed part of the wider British effort to hold and extend the front in Flanders, moving between trenches, support positions and reserve areas as operations required. The unit’s previous battle history shows that Arthur was serving in an experienced but heavily used formation that had been repeatedly exposed to the conditions of the Western Front. [1][6]
By September 1917 the 8th Royal West Kent had become a veteran battalion of the Western Front, carrying the experience and losses of Loos, the Somme, Arras and the opening battles of Passchendaele.
Circumstances of Death
Arthur was killed in action in Belgium on 9 September 1917. The supplied records do not identify the precise trench, village or operation in which he died. However, his battalion was serving in the Ypres Salient during the Third Battle of Ypres, and the timing places his death within the sustained fighting that followed the battles of Pilckem Ridge and Langemarck. [1][4]
There are several possible circumstances in which a soldier of the 8th Royal West Kent might have been killed at this stage: during front-line occupation, an artillery bombardment, a local attack, a patrol, or the consolidation of ground gained in earlier operations. Without the battalion war diary for September 1917 or a surviving service file giving the exact action, it would be unsafe to claim a more specific event.
Arthur’s death was recorded as killed in action rather than as death from wounds or illness. The continued fighting and the landscape of Flanders also help explain why no identified grave survived. Shellfire frequently destroyed battlefield burials, and many bodies could not be recovered or identified after the front moved on. [1]
Burial and Commemoration
Arthur is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing, on Panels 106 to 108. The memorial forms the north-eastern boundary of Tyne Cot Cemetery near Zonnebeke, north-east of Ypres, and records almost 35,000 officers and men from United Kingdom and New Zealand forces who died in the Ypres Salient after 16 August 1917 and have no known grave. [1][7][8]
The date of Arthur’s death is significant in relation to the memorial. The Tyne Cot Memorial was used for those missing from the later phases of the Ypres fighting, after the cut-off associated with the Menin Gate Memorial. His name on the memorial therefore identifies him as one of the men lost during the continuing Passchendaele campaign, when the battlefield was increasingly dominated by mud, shell holes, broken roads and shattered villages. [8][9]
His post-war recognition included the British War Medal, Victory Medal and Memorial Death Plaque. These awards were issued despite the absence of an individual grave and provided his family with tangible evidence of his service. Arthur is also listed in Find a Grave under memorial number 11950448, while the Imperial War Museums’ Lives of the First World War includes his medal-index information. [1][10]
Legacy
Arthur James Lilley’s life connects several Kentish communities. He was born at Teynham, grew up in Chatham, later lived in Luton and enlisted into a regiment formed at Maidstone. His military identity was therefore strongly rooted in Kent, even though his service took him to the battlefields of France and Belgium. [1][3]
His occupation as a carman offers an additional insight into his civilian life. Before the war he was part of the transport workforce that moved goods through Kent, but in uniform he became an infantry private whose daily responsibilities included carrying equipment, occupying trenches and advancing under fire. The transition from civilian transport work to front-line soldier reflects the enormous social and occupational changes imposed by total war. [1]
Arthur’s battalion history shows the scale of his experience. Between 1915 and 1917 he was associated with a formation that fought at Loos, Wulverghem, Delville Wood, Guillemont, Vimy Ridge, Messines, Pilckem Ridge and Langemarck. These battle names represent not only military operations but also months of training, movement, trench duty, fatigue, danger and the loss of comrades. [1]
His name on the Tyne Cot Memorial ensures that Arthur is remembered among the missing of the Ypres Salient, but family history restores the details that a memorial alone cannot provide. He was the son of Alfred Stephen Lilley and Rosetta Gurr, a former resident of Chatham and Luton, a carman, a Kentish recruit and a member of the 8th Royal West Kent who died during the 1917 fighting in Flanders. [1]
Further research may reveal more about his final days. The National Archives catalogue lists the 8th Battalion war diary, and a study of the September 1917 entries could establish the battalion’s exact location and activity on 9 September. Until that research is undertaken, the most reliable account is that Arthur was killed while serving with the 8th Royal West Kent in the Ypres Salient during the continuing Third Battle of Ypres. [11]
Sources and Further Reading
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Private Arthur James Lilley
- Find a Grave: Arthur James Lilley
- The Long, Long Trail: Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)
- The Wartime Memories Project: 8th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment
- The National Archives: 8 Battalion, Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment war diary
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Cemeteries and memorials of Ypres and West Flanders
- Imperial War Museums: Arthur Lilley
- Every One Remembered: Arthur James Lilley
- Compiled family report: Individual Report for Arthur James Lilley, including civil registration, census, occupation, military service, medal and commemoration details.
Sources
[1] Individual-Report-for-Arthur-James-Lilley.pdf https://ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws.com/web/direct-files/attachments/141549598/9ed0487e-e619-4cfb-9e56-b1c99ad20944/Individual-Report-for-Arthur-James-Lilley.pdf
[2] Tyne Cot Memorial | Cemetery Details | CWGC https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/85900/tyne-cot-memorial/
[3] The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) – The Long, Long Trail https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/the-queens-own-royal-west-kent-regiment/
[4] Third Battle of Ypres 31 July to 10 November 1917 – Anzac Portal https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/wars-and-missions/ww1/where-australians-served/western-front/third-battle-of-ypres
[5] Battle of Langemarck (1917) – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Langemarck_(1917)
[6] 8th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment in the Great War … https://wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/allied/battalion.php?pid=7433
[7] The cemeteries and memorials of Ypres and West Flanders | CWGC https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/blog/the-cemeteries-and-memorials-of-ypres-and-west-flanders/
[8] Tyne Cot Cemetery – Commonwealth War Graves Commission https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/53300/tyne-cot-cemetery/
[9] Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial | Cemetery Details | CWGC https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/91800/ypres-menin-gate-memorial/
[10] Life story: Arthur Lilley | Lives of the First World War https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/2661626
[11] 8 Battalion Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) | The … https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7353316
[12] Memorial Wall https://www.bbc.co.uk/remembrance/wall/regiment/queens_own_royal_west_kent_regiment
[13] pg79467.txt https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/79467/pg79467.txt
[14] Carmarthen (St. Peters) War Memorial – WW1.Wales https://ww1.wales/carmarthenshire-memorials/carmarthen-st-peters-war-memorial/
[15] History | rwklhg https://www.royalwestkentlhg.com/history
[16] Royal West Kent Regiment in the Great War – The Wartime … https://wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/allied/regiment.php?pid=17650
[17] Arthur James Lilley – Every One Remembered https://www.everyoneremembered.org/profiles/soldier/832832/
[18] Royal West Kent Regiment in the Great War https://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/allied/regiment.php?pid=17650
[19] The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment https://www.janetandrichardsgenealogy.co.uk/QORWK%20C%20T%20Atkinson.html
[20] History of the 8th Btn the Queen’s own Royal West Kent Regt. 1914-1918 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/79467/pg79467-images.html
[21] Action of the Cockcroft – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_the_Cockcroft
[22] Royal West Kent Regiment – 1st & 2nd Battalions https://armyservicenumbers.blogspot.com/2009/07/royal-west-kent-regiment-1st-2nd.html
[23] ULTIMATE SACRIFICE: Sept. 8 https://www.telegraphherald.com/news/tri-state/article_883c66c9-469f-4903-a05d-f0fc132744a6.html
[24] Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment: WWI Battalion History https://studylib.net/doc/7279665/battalions-of-the-queen-s-own–royal-west-kent-regiment-
[25] 399 died on this day: Sat 08/09/1917 https://firstworldwaronthisday.blogspot.com/2017/09/399-died-on-this-day-sat-08091917.html
[26] Part Five THE BATTLE OF LANGEMARCK https://ww1ieper1917.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/part-five-the-battle-of-langemarck/
[27] The Battle of Langemarck, Passchendaele 16-18/8/17 In front of St Julien, near Ypres, Belgium. – Malvern Remembers https://www.malvernremembers.org.uk/war-diary-entry/the-battle-of-langemarck-passchendaele-16-18817-in-front-of-st-julien-near-ypres-belgium
[28] [PDF] Casualties of The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), WW 1 … https://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/monuments-and-memorials/cwgc/the_queens_ww1.pdf
[29] World War I Names: H – Snodland Historical Society https://www.snodlandhistory.org.uk/world-war-1/ww1-names-h/
[30] For more information https://www.cwgc.org/media/dyxhg13n/tyne-cot-cemetery-and-memorial-en.pdf
[31] The Menin Gate Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/the-menin-gate-memorial
[32] Tyne Cot – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyne_Cot
[33] Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing, Zonnebeke, Ypres Salient … http://www.greatwar.co.uk/ypres-salient/memorial-tyne-cot.htm
[34] On Flanders Fields… https://andanyways.com/2020/06/11/on-flanders-fields/
[35] Ypres & Tyne Cot https://andanyways.com/portfolio/ypres-tyne-cot/
[36] Tyne Cot Cemetery & Memorial to the Missing : World War One Battlefields https://www.ww1battlefields.co.uk/flanders/tyne-cot/
[37] Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial: Battlefield, Burials and the Missing https://visitflandersfields.com/tyne-cot-cemetery-zonnebeke/
[38] Tyne Cot Cemetery and World War One Memorial | Flanders Fields https://www.arboursabroad.com/tyne-cot-cemetery/
[39] Tyne Cot Cemetery, Zonnebeke, Ypres Salient Battlefields, Belgium http://www.greatwar.co.uk/ypres-salient/cemetery-tyne-cot.htm
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