15th Battalion Hampshire Regiment
Wilfred Colin Arkell was born in 1899, the sixth of seven sons of John and Hannah Jane Arkell of Drybrook. He also had four sisters.
After attending Holy Trinity School, Drybrook he was apprenticed in the tailoring and clothing department of the Cinderford Co-operative Society where he served for four and a half years before joining the Army on 20 April 1917. After training in England he was posted to France in March 1918.
Private Wilfred Colin Arkell was killed in action on 9 August 1918, aged 19 years. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial. He is also remembered in his home village on the memorials in Holy Trinity Church, Drybrook Memorial Hall and the United Reformed Church.