12th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
Arthur Leonard Griffin was born in Gloucester in 1880, the son of James and Harriet Griffin. On 4 August 1902 he married Annie Webber at St Nicholas Church, Gloucester and the couple lived at Pineapple Inn, Westgate Street, Gloucester.
Arthur attested for military service on 8 December 1915 stating his age to be 35 years and six months and was placed into the Army Reserve. He had previously worked for 22 years at John Stephenson of Kingsholm a firm of pickle and jam makers.
He was mobilised on 25 January 1917 and was in training until 12 May, when he joined the 8th Battalion of the Glosters at Rouen. His stay with the 8th lasted about three weeks as, on 2 June, he joined the 12th Battalion, who were serving in the field, as part of 95 Brigade, 5th Division.
Ill health manifested itself shortly after. On 17 June 1917 he was treated at No 23 Casualty Clearing Station and on 11 July at No 22 General Hospital at Camiers, on the Channel coast. As there was no improvement in his condition he was evacuated to England on 19 July and admitted to Bradford War Hospital: his service on the Western Front had lasted 69 days.
A medical board at Bradford War Hospital heard that Arthur had been diagnosed with pyrexia of unknown origin (an undetermined infection – possibly ‘trench fever). He suffered from pains in the head, back and legs and had experienced temperatures of up to 101 degrees Fahrenheit. The board concurred that the infection was attributable to military service and agreed to his discharge as ‘no longer physically fit for war service’: this with effect from 5 November 1917.
Arthur Griffin died in Gloucester Royal Infirmary on 30 June 1918, aged 37, having undergone an operation. According to a funeral report in the Gloucester Journal of 13 July, following his discharge from Bradford War Hospital he returned home only to be re-admitted to the Red Cross Hospital, Great Western Road, Gloucester. He had returned home for eight weeks, prior to his re-admission to the Royal Infirmary, where he died, leaving a widow and four children.
Private Griffin was afforded a semi-military funeral at St Mary de Lode Church before interment at Gloucester Old Cemetery, where a standard CWGC headstone marks his grave.
(Research by Graham Adams for the Branch’s Gloucestershire War Graves Project)