Arthur Peak

A Private with the 11th Battalion, Arthur died on 9th of April 1918 at the age of 38. 

Arthur was born at Lowestoft in 1881, a son of Edward George and Mary Peak. In 1881 he lived with his parents, and paternal grandparents, at 12-13 Raglan Street. By 1891 his family were living at 24-26 Raglan Street. By 1901 Arthur's mother had died and his family lived at Gladstone Villas, rear of Bevan Street, and Arthur worked as a carter. 

In 1903 Arthur married Mabel Sarah Head, at Lowestoft. In 1911 they lived at 11 Cathcart Street, and Arthur worked as a fish packer. Later their home was at 52 Haward Street Lowestoft. 

Arthur enlisted at Lowestoft and joined the Suffolk Regiment. He served in France with the 12th Battalion before joining the 2nd Battalion and was subsequently transferred to the 11th Battalion.

On 5 April 1918 the 11th Battalion occupied billets at Erquinghem, France. The Germans began bombing Erquignhem on 9 April and the battalion immediately moved into front line trenches in anticipation of an attack which came from the direction of Fleurbaux, but was driven back. A second attack from the Feurbaix area took place on 10 April and later that day the battalion were ordered to withdraw to north of the River Lys. A further withdrawal on the 11th was hampered by sniper and machine-gun fire but the battalion reached the Armentieres-Bailleul railway. On the 12th the battalion moved into attack formation about one mile south-east of Bailleul and late in the morning became involved in the fighting. The next day there was a heavy artillery bombardment and the enemy attacked in force from Outerstern and the battalion had to fall back. During the 14th the battalion took up positions near Bailleul railway station and late in the day they were relieved and marched to Meulehook. On the 15th due to enemy advances they were again in the front line. The next day they were patrolling and digging in. During the 17th there was heavy shelling and attempts by the enemy to advance. The battalion were relieved at 2 a.m. on April 18. 

What precisely happened to Arthur is not known. He was reported missing at some point between 9 April and 19 April 1918 and was later presumed to have been killed in action between those dates. 

The battalion’s casualties between 9 and 19 April were:
Officers: four killed; four died of wounds; five missing, ten wounded
Other ranks: 39 killed; three died of wounds; 272 missing; 157 wounded

Unusually Arthur is commemorated twice by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and he is listed twice in the publication Soldiers Died in the Great War. The reason for these anomalies is that his battalion, the 11th Suffolk Regiment, was also known as a Cambridge battalion and someone has confused these facts, thus listing him in Soldiers Died both as a solider in the Cambridgeshire Regiment and as a soldier in the 11th Suffolk Regiment.