On this day in 1917, Arthur Charles James Boden (1895-1917) was killed in action while serving in the 24th (Wessex) Field Ambulance of the Royal Army Medical Corps in the Great War.
Arthur, who was 21, died 16 years after his father – Arthur Finley – was killed in the Second Boer War in South Africa.
He joined the RAMC in Exeter on September 10, 1914 – as a private in the 1st (Wessex) Field Ambulance – and went to France with the British Expeditionary Force in November 1914.
Arthur was buried at Vlamertinghe New Military Cemetery in Belgium.
His grave includes the latin inscription: ‘Beati Munde Corde’ (Blessed are the pure in heart).
He is one of more than 50 officers and men of the RAMC remembered on a memorial at Exeter Cathedral.
Arthur is also commemorated on the Exeter Roll of Honour.
Paul Roberts
NOTES
Born on December 6, 1895 in Wapping, London, Arthur and his mother lived at 34, East Street, South Molton in 1901 (while his father served in South Africa). In 1910, aged 14, he was working for the Great Western Railway as an office lad/porter. In 1911, aged, 15, he was living at 8, Taddyforde Road, Exeter.
Arthur was the son of Arthur Finley (1863-1901) and Lucy Dennis (1870-). Lucy (who married William Herbert Boden (1877-1927) on May 22, 1905 in Bristol and emigrated to Australia in 1913) was the daughter of William Dennis (1835-1925) and Lavinia Elston (1838-1926). Lavinia was the daughter of William Elston (1813-1885) and Loveday Roberts (1819-1909). Loveday was the daughter of William Roberts (1791-1875) and Frances Hodge (1796-1873). William was the son of John Roberts (1766-1834) and Elizabeth James (1767-1861). John (1766-1834) was the son of William Roberts (1738-), my great-great-great-great-great grandfather.
Picture below
Arthur Boden. Photo added to Find a Grave by ArchieNeeds, a member of Winsford Archive Project which is documenting nearly 1,400 Winsford Burials. He is also a volunteer for the Imperial War Museum, researching over 11,700 Somerset soldiers who died in the Great War. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11407532/arthur-charles_james-boden
