During my teaching career at Kingston School in Hull, my classroom was on the first floor, so every morning I went up the central staircase and passed the war memorial. I often used to look at the names, and one in particular attracted my attention because it was unusual – Arthur Espiner. Later, as part of our Year 9 topic on World War One, we researched some of the names, and Arthur’s story was the most fascinating. After I retired, I began to look into my family history, and having a subscription to the family history website Findmypast, enabled me to find out more about Arthur’s background, his war career and his death under unusual circumstances. So here is his story.
Arthur Espiner was born in 1892 in a railway cottage in North Ferriby, west of Hull, the ninth child of ten of William Espiner, a railway worker born in Richmond in North Yorkshire and Alice, nee Milburn, from County Durham. William Espiner died in 1899 in Howden in East Yorkshire, aged 38, possibly as a result of a railway accident (more research is needed on this). In the 1901 Census, Alice was living at 5 Perry Street in Hull with seven of her children, including Arthur, aged 9. Presumably, he went to Boulevard Municipal Secondary School two years later. In the 1911 Census, Arthur, aged 19, was still with the family but at 10 Curzon Street in Hull, and he was working as a railway engine cleaner for the Hull and Barnsley Railway Company.
Like many young men in Hull, Arthur volunteered at the outbreak of World War One in 1914. Fortunately, his military records survive, and they indicate that he was, by this time, a locomotive fireman. He was 23 years and 6 months old when he enlisted in November 1914, and was placed in the East Yorkshire Regiment 4th (Hull) 13th (Service) Battalion. After training, his regiment was sent to Egypt on garrison duty at Port Said on the Suez Canal. On May 3rd 1916, Arthur was in Etaples in France, having, like so many of the 1914 volunteers, been brought back for the impending horror of the Battle of the Somme. The East Yorkshire Regiments were not heavily involved on the first day of the Somme on July 1st 1916, but not so Arthur Espiner, as he had by then been attached to the 3rd Tyneside Scottish Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers. They led the attack on La Boisselle at 7-30 am and suffered some of the worst casualties on that fateful day, when 604 were killed, injured, wounded or missing.
Arthur Espiner survived that ordeal, and along with the remnant of the 3rd Tyneside Scottish Battalion, was moved north of the Somme for guard duties in the trenches, firstly at Monchy-au-Bois, then at Vimy Ridge. On August 15th 1916, the battalion was due to move further north to Armentieres, but not Arthur, because he had been killed in no man’s land the night before. His death was contentious enough for eight officers and soldiers to be asked to provide statements, all of which form part of Arthur’s records, and are fascinating to study. Hopefully, we will eventually be able to put them on the Old Kingstonian’s Association website in full, but meanwhile, here is the story of how and why Arthur was killed.
At 10-00 pm on Aug 14th 1916, Lance Corporal J. Bourne asked the sentry in his bay to pass on the message that he was going out into no man’s land, believing an enemy working party was out there, and he wanted a better look. His account says that Espiner joined him in a shell hole, without having been instructed to do so. Pt. W. Clark wrote that Pt. Espiner was in his part of the trench, but had “disappeared”. 2nd Lt. C. Fentum, in charge of that section of the trench, saw two men go over the top, but had not permitted anyone to go out. Further down the line, he found his men highly agitated and that someone had shouted “Man the parapet – they are coming over”, clearly believing it was a German trench raid. Cpl. Burn then threw a bomb (grenade), believing none of his men were out there. Seeing no enemies, Fentum ordered his men to stand down. Someone then reported to him that Espiner was lying dead, about two yards out from the parapet. Pt. W. Overton wrote that Espiner had earlier told him he was going out into no man’s land. but not why.
The official records say that Pt. Espiner was killed accidentally, and no one seems to have permitted him to go out into no man’s land. Confusion over whether the Germans were attacking led to the bomb which killed him being thrown. Espiner’s family received his war pension and medals, so clearly there was no evidence of him disobeying orders or deserting, but his actions seem very strange. Given that he must have witnessed horrific scenes at La Boisselle, his first encounter with active warfare, had his mind been affected by what he saw? Did he feel that the battalion moving to another area the following day suggested he could be in for more front-line action? We will never know why he made the decision which would lead to his death, as one of the many who have died in warfare from ‘friendly fire’.
Pt. 13/336 Arthur Espiner’s body was lost, even though it was brought in by his comrades, and his effects were passed on to his mother. He is commemorated on the Loos Memorial to the Missing, Panel 40-1, and his name is on the Hull and Barnsley Railway Company Roll of Honour. One further oddity in the story is that a short obituary from his family did not appear in the Hull Daily Mail deaths column until August 4th 1917. Perhaps it took a long time to sort this out and inform the family of the outcome.
The Kingston High School war memorial is now in the reception area at Sirius Academy West in Hull, and each year on November 11th, members of the Old Kingstonians’ Association lay a wreath in honour of the fallen. All members are welcome to attend.
Steve Clarke, Staff, 1988-2009