95th Field Company Royal Engineers
Ellis Arthur Griffin was born in 1895 to James and Ellen Griffin of Woodbine Cottage, Greet, near Winchcombe. Ellis became a carpenter by trade. He attested on 28 April 1915 and was assigned to the Royal Engineers on 5 May in part due to his trade skills.
He crossed to France on 30 October and joining the 95th Field Company in 7th Division. The 7th would fight both on the Somme in 1916 and in the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917 before being transferred to the Italian front at the end of that year.
Sapper Griffin was promoted to Corporal on 3 October 1917 and awarded the Military Medal for his distinguished service during the Second Battle of Passchendaele. After the 7th moved to Italy, he was awarded a Bar for his actions during the Battle of the Piave River in 1918.
Following the Armistice, he was admitted to Casualty Clearing Station No 24 on 9 December complaining of pain in his left hip that had been apparent since the Piave battle. He was diagnosed on the 14th with acute rheumatism and shortly afterwards deteriorated, lapsing into a fever.
A telegram home to the UK on 21 December claimed he was dangerously ill. Sadly, he died on Christmas Day 1918 aged 23 years. A post mortem revealed severe abscesses in the hip joint and pelvis.
Corporal Ellis Arthur Griffin is buried in Montecchio Precalcino Communal Cemetery Extension, Vicenza, Italy and commemorated on the Winchcombe and Sudeley War Memorial and on a panel in St Peter’s Church, Winchcombe.