27/10/2022
Corporal ARTHUR PIPER
Arthur Piper was born in Dowland in 1896. He was the youngest son of Samuel and Grace, who saw four of their sons head off to war.
Arthur attended school locally and after leaving, he became a farm labourer, living and working in the parish. He enlisted in April 1915 aged 19 into the 1st Devon Regiment, spent 2 months training and went to France on 2nd June 1915. On arrival he was in action in the second battle of Ypres and in March 1916 they took over the hold on the southern end of Vimy Ridge, Arras.
Three months later the regiment moved to the Somme where they remained on the frontline and Arthur was promoted from Private to Corporal. In September 1917 they moved out of the frontline for a period of rest before being sent back to Flanders where they were in action during the third battle of Ypres known as Passendale. At 6am on the 4th October 1917 a massive operation was launched at Broodseinde.
Heavy rain turned the ground to mud in this massive bombardment.
The war correspondent Sir Phillip Gibbs wrote…
‘The Ypres Salient was the ground on which the quality of British manhood was put to the test, most often in the most frightful conditions against the heaviest odds during the years of war. This ground will be forever haunted by this noble youth of ours, by those muddy men in steel hats, by the surge of transport and guns, by the ghosts of a great army of youth, so valiant in the face of death, so patient in suffering, so stubborn in endurance, so simple and splendid by the faith that was in them and never told.’
Over 4800 men were killed in action on this day. The Tyne Cot memorial bears the names of 35’000 men who were killed and have no known grave and of the 11’961 graves at the site, 8373 are unidentified….. ‘Known unto God’, Arthur Piper is among them.
