Arthur Whinney

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Arthur Whinney had been born in Brantham, Suffolk in 1900, the second of four children of John and Elizabeth Whinney. By 1911 the family were living in Cawston where John was employed as a coachman at the Manor House but in 1916 his employer died and John found new employment at Rainthorpe Hall as coachman to Sir Charles Harvey from whom he rented a cottage on Low Road.

It seems likely that Arthur would initially have joined one of the three volunteer battalions of the Norfolk Regiment but as the losses mounted men were frequently switched from one regiment to another in order to maintain a balance of numbers which is almost certainly how Arthur ended up as a member of the 1st Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment which on 31st March 1918 had received a draft of reinforcements just in time to be part of the Battle of Lys on 9th April where a large number of the battalion became casualties from both artillery and gas.

Arthur survived and returned home but died on 17th January 1921, it is thought from the injuries he had sustained, and was buried in Tasburgh churchyard. Although he may have been the only Tasburgh resident to have died after the War as a result of his injuries, many others who served would have carried the physical and mental scars of war for the rest of their lives.