William and Arthur Henry Wall – died on the same day

The newspaper article provides a pretty comprehensive account of William’s service. His military records reveal that he enlisted in the 4th Wilts on September 14, 1914 aged 46 and served at home until January 2, 1916. On January 3, 1916, having transferred to the 22nd Wessex & Welsh Btn the Rifle Brigade, he was sent to the Western Front where he served for 325 days. On November 24, 1916, he was posted to Salonika where he served for 1 year and 215 days before being posted home on June 27, 1918, having previously transferred to the Royal Engineers.

William was discharged on August 10, 1918 as being no longer physically fit for War Service. He was 49 years and 11 months old and suffering from valvular disease of the heart (VDH).

He was awarded a weekly pension of 27 shillings for four weeks after which it dropped to just over 13 shillings, to be renewed after 48 weeks.

William had previously worked for more than twenty years as a Rivetter’s Holder Up in the GWR Works, a physically demanding job that he was now no longer strong enough to do.

William died on May 22, 1922 just hours before his son Arthur also died.

When Arthur Henry Wall enlisted at the Devizes recruitment office he stated that he was 19 years old and worked as a boilermaker. In fact he was only 16 years old and two years below the minimum age for enlistment.

He served a period of 140 days from January 12, 1915 to May 31, 1915 at home but on June 1, 1916 was posted to France, aged 17. However, on July 10 Arthur’s true age was detected and he was sent back to England as ‘underage and physically unfit for service.’

He spent the next year posted in England but on June 28, 1916 he returned to France and served more than 300 days. By now serving with the Bedfordshires, Arthur was gassed on May 12, 1918 and ten days later returned to England.

On November 23, 1918, he was discharged suffering from Defective Vision, Dyspnoea (a symptom of aortic insufficiency) and headache.

He was awarded a pension of 11 shillings a week from November 24, 1918 to be reviewed in 26 weeks’ time. In 1920, by now a married man, Arthur wrote to the Record Officer of the Bedfordshire Regiment asking if he could apply for further money under the Army Order 325/19 but was informed that only soldiers serving from the date of the pay increase on September 13, 1919 were entitled.

Like his father, Arthur also died of heart disease, a direct result of his military service.

United in Death

Father and Son Buried at the Same Time

The burial of a father and a son who died on the same day took place at Radnor Street Cemetery, Swindon. The deceased were Mr William Wall, 35 Linslade Street, Swindon, and his son, Mr Arthur Henry Wall, 36 Jennings Street. Both had served in the war, and their death was directly attributable to the hardships endured on active service. The father, who was 53 years of age, served in the Army for 12 years, and during the war he was in Egypt, Greece, Serbia and Italy – first with the Wilts Regiment then the Rifle Brigade and was later attached to the Royal Engineers. In August, 1918 he was discharged as unfit for further service. His death occurred on May 22nd, just a few hours before his son passed away.

The latter was 23 years of age. When only 16 he joined the Wilts Regiment, and was later transferred to the Bedfords, and then to the 1st Herts. He saw service in France and Belgium, and was badly gassed in May, 1918. In November of the same year he was discharged.

It is a pathetic fact that although he did not know his father was so ill he had a sort of premonition that they would die at the same time, and expressed a wish that they might be buried together.

Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser June 17, 1922.

Father and son were buried in plot E8206 where Mary Ann, William’s wife and Arthur’s mother, joined them following her death in 1931.

If you are wondering why they do not have a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone it is because their deaths occurred after August 31, 1921 the date on which the First World War officially ended.

First published on October 9, 2021.