Skip to main content

Karl Ferdinand Franck William Arnold

Karl Ferdinand Arnold
Karl Ferdinand Arnold CREDIT: De Ruvigny
Baptism entry
Baptism entry
Medal Index Card
Medal Index Card

A Captain with 1st Bn., Karl died on 23rd of April 1915 at the age of 27.  

Karl was born at Penarth, Cardiff on 19 March 1888, a son of Franck Thomas and Edith Maud Arnold. His grandfather was Reverend Charles Thomas Arnold, of Rugby, and his grandmother, Susanna Magdalena Arnold, lived at 4 High Street, Lowestoft. See house on LowestoftOldAndNow.org

Note: In several records he is referred to by his middle name Ferdinand. 

Karl was baptised at Saint Augustine's Church, Penarth, on 18 June 1888. In 1891 his family lived at 4 Conway Road, Cardiff. 

Karl attended Lambrook Prep School and from 1902 he was educated at Rugby School and he entered Sandhurst in 1905. 

Karl was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the Suffolk Regiment on 29 August 1906 and Lieutenant on 6 March 1909. 

When the First World War began Karl was in Egypt and acted as the Italian censor, for which he received a letter of thanks from the Sirdar. In January 1915 he served as the machine-gun officer with 84th Brigade before returned to the Battalion to take command of a double-company due to a shortage of officers. 

On 22 April 1915, at the northern end of the Ypres Salient near St Julien, the French and Canadian troops were subjected to a gas attack. This attack caused the troops to retreat and caused up to 5,000 deaths and 15,000 casualties. The Germans  advanced 3-4 km, broke the Allied lines and threatened Ypres. The 1st Battalion Suffolk Regiment moved forward and fought alongside the 1st Canadian Division to counter the German attack. 

The 1st Battalion was taken out of the line on 24 April and went into reserve near Frezenberg. However, they were immediately ordered to take up a position on the Frezenberg Ridge near the village of Fortuin. They took a position of the left flank of the Canadians. The Battalion was also exposed to a gas attack, suffering a large number of casualties.

The Battalion was taken out of the line on 28 April. They had suffered 400 casualties in the previous 10 days. The Battalion was heavily shelled and suffered repeated mortar attacks. The ranks had been severely depleted.

Karl was killed in action at Zonnebeke, near Ypres. He was shot, while in trenches that were being enfiladed by German fire. Initially he was buried in the garden of a farmhouse, map reference 28.J.4.b.7.6. and by 1923 had been reburied at Bedford House Cemetery. 

A brother officer wrote, of Karl, "He was always merry and cheerful, even under the most adverse circumstances, and set an example to officers and men alike."

—————

See also Arnold’s Bequest‘In memory of my son, Captain Ferdinand Frank William Arnold of the First Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment, who was killed at Sonnebeke…”

Memories

He was always merry and cheerful

Tags

Lived at

Karl Arnold
4
High Street
Lowestoft
United Kingdom

52.4852898, 1.7562672

CountryOfService
United Kingdom
BranchService
Army
Regiment
Suffolk Regiment
Burial/Memorial
Belgium
BEDFORD HOUSE CEMETERY
Enclosure No.4 XII. F. 31.

Add new comment

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <h3>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.