Archibald Ainger

Haddenham Parish Registers do not always give a date of birth, so we do not know exactly when Archibald was born, although his birth was registered in the December quarter of 1891, and he was baptised at Holy Trinity Church Haddenham, Cambridgeshire on 3rd January 1892, the son of Clarles Richard Ainger and his wife Mary Ann, née Whitehead. He was one of 14 children, 11 of whom were still living in 1911, and one of the five sons from the family who served in World War I. Two did not survive.

At the time of the 1911 census, aged 19, he was a Butcher’s Assistant, but without any sercive record we do not know whether he was still in the same job in December 1915, when he was medically examined and found fit to serve. We have to assume that he joined up shortly afterwards, as there is no record of him going before an appeal tribunal in 1916 when constription was introduced.

He enlisted in the 8th (Service) Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment at Bury St. Edmunds. This Battalion had originally been formed at Bury as part of Kitchener’s Second New Army, and had landed at Boulogne in July 1915 as part of the18th (Eastern) Division. The Division remained on the Western Front for the rest of the war, taking part in all the significant actions. Archibald would have been with them throughout the Battles of the Somme, from July to November 1916, with no record of having been wounded.

But on 13th May 1917 he was reported as killed in action, probably during the Battle of Bullecourt (3-17 May 1917) or the subsequent capture of Roeux (13 - 14 May 1917) which formed part of the Arras Offensive. This was planned as a major offensive in co-opperation with the French, intended to break through the German lines and end the war speedily. Although ground was gained by the allies, the hoped for breakthough was not achieved.

As well as on our own War Memorial, Archibald’s name is listed on the Arras Memorial in northern France which commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918 and have no known grave.

Rosemary Gorman