Selected Biographies

Arbon, Alfred John – Born: Cavendish, Suffolk in 1888.  Parents: Arthur Alfred Arbon (Brewer’s Labourer) and Elizabeth [née Sparkes].  Family Connections: Brother to Herbert Frederick Daniel Arbon [b1894] and brother-in-law of Henry Maxim [b1886].  Home: Huntsmans Lane, Foxearth, Essex (1891), Foxearth Street Cottage, The Street, Foxearth (1901 to 1911), Cavendish Road, Glemsford, Suffolk [1915], The Street, Foxearth [1918].  Occupation: Backhouse Boy (1901), Road Man Labourer (1911), Agricultural Labourer [1915].  Married: Jessie Maria Golding in 1915.  Service Record: Alfred enlisted on 10.9.1914 as Pte.1687 being called for active service on 18.2.1915 as Pte.M2/035385 with one of the Mechanical Transport Companies of 19^th Divisional Supply Train, Army Service Corps.  He was posted the Western Front on 16.7.1915, delivering vital supplies along the front line when he was killed by enemy shell fire near St Waast on 8.11.1918.[1]  Died: Alfred is buried in Cross Roads Cemetery, Fontaine-au-Bois, Nord, France [grave ref: II.D.16].  He was well regarded by his senior officers whose glowing comments are recorded in De Ruvigney’s Roll of Honour and is further commemorated on a memorial plaque inside St Peter and St Paul Church, Foxearth, and on the war memorial in the nearby churchyard.[2]

Arbon, Herbert Frederick Daniel – Born: Foxearth, Essex on 12.12.1894.[3]  Parents: Arthur Alfred Arbon (Brewer’s Labourer) and Elizabeth [née Sparkes].  Family Connections: Brother to Alfred John Arbon [b1888] and brother-in-law of Henry Maxim [b1886].  Home: Foxearth Street Cottage, The Street, Foxearth, Essex (1901, 1911), The Street, Foxearth [1918], Lower Hall, Foxearth [1919], The Street, Foxearth [1921, 1922].  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1911), Packer [1915].  Married: Alice Martin in 1921.  Service Record: Herbert enlisted on 2.11.1915 as Pte.PO1169 with the Royal Marine Light Infantry, after only two months he was diagnosed with Chorioretinitis and invalided out of the service, being unfit for further duty.[4]  He is part of a photograph of returning veterans taken outside Melford Hall on Peace Day 19.7.1919[5] and is also recorded on a memorial plaque inside St Peter and St Paul Church at Foxearth.  Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1932.

Related Biography

Maxim, Harry – Born: Foxearth, Essex on 30.12.1886.[6] Parents: Robert Maxim (Agricultural Labourer) and Ann [née Piper].  Family Connections: Brother-in-law of Alfred John Arbon [b1888] and Herbert Frederick Daniel Arbon [b1894].  Home: Western End, Foxearth, Essex (1891 to 1901), 106 Halford Road, Fulham, London (1911), Fean Hill Hospital, 130 Thorpe Road, Norwich, Norfolk (1921), 65 Church Street, Sudbury, Suffolk (1939).  Occupation: Agricultural Labourer (1901), General Labourer (1911), Labourer for E. Baker, Millers of Great Cornard, Suffolk (1921), Sack Machinist (1939).  Married: Florence Elizabeth Sophia Arbon in 1915.  Service Record: Harry served from 4.12.1915 to 22.11.1919 as Pte.33647 with 7^th [Service] Battalion, The Border Regiment, posted to France as part of 51^st Brigade, 17^th [Northern] Division, seeing action during the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and at Passchendaele in 1917 and later wounded.[7]  Died: St Leonards Hospital, Sudbury, Suffolk on 16.8.1969.

Notes – [1] Service Record [The National Archives – WO 363], Medal Roll [TNA – WO 329], and Medal Index Card [TNA – WO 372]. [2] See his entry in de Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour 1914-18, Vol. V, p.4, also his Commonwealth War Grave Commission record and British Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, 1901-1929 file [ref:839541]. [3] Date of birth from his RM Record. [4] Royal Marines: Registers of Service [TNA – ADM 159/2051169 & ADM 157/2674/4] and Royal Navy Medal and Award Rolls [TNA – ADM 171/167]. [5] The photograph is on permanent display at the Long Melford Museum and Heritage Centre. [6] 1939 Register. [7] [WO 329 Silver War Badge ref: B347605], Medal Roll [WO 329], and Medal Index Card [WO 372].