| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
Arthur Baldwin served as an NCO in the 10th Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment (1st Hull) otherwise known as the “Hull Commercials”. This “Hull Pals” battalion was raised in Sep 1914. It spent time in Egypt defending the Suez Canal from late Dec 1915 to Mar 1916 before being sent to France. By this stage Arthur was a corporal, he was later promoted to the rank of sergeant. The Beverley Guardian of 19 May 1917 noted that he had been wounded and was in hospital in France.
The Beverley Guardian of 11 May 1918 noted that he had been wounded for a second time and that he had been awarded the Military Medal for gallantry. The MM was “awarded for good conduct whilst in charge of his company during their retirement on March 21st 1918 at Ernvilliers and capturing nine prisoners and a machine gun in the village”. By the end of the war he was referred to as “Cadet” Baldwin possibly going through the process of becoming an officer. When he left the army in 1919 he retained his rank as sergeant. He was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the War and Victory Medals in addition to his MM.
Arthur was born in Beverley on 28 Apr 1891, baptised at St Mary’s 1 Dec 1897. His father Robert Henry Baldwin was a cabinet-maker; his mother, Mary Ann (nee Wales) from Bridlington died in 1893. Arthur was one of eight children. The family home was 58 North Bar Without but Arthur moved in with his sister Margaret at 7 Newbegin, when his father remarried in 1909 and had two more children. Arthur worked as a grocery assistant, a job he returned to after military service. In Sep 1918 he married Ethel Hewson, of Wellington Cottages, Norwood, a waitress. They had two children-Thomas born in Mar 1920 and Edward in Sep 1928. Their home was 148 Goddard Avenue in Hull. Arthur died in 1962; his wife in 1973.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |