Arthur James Biddiscombe

Story:
Arthur James Biddiscombe was born in 1877 in Donhead St. Mary, Wiltshire, and baptised there on 26th August, 1877. He was the son of Henry Biddiscombe, a Builder, and Emma Foot Biddiscombe (née Smart). At the time of the 1911 Census his parents were living in Salisbury Road, Ludwell, Donhead St. Mary, Wiltshire. Arthur had by this time enlisted in Cardiff and joined the 2nd Battalion of the Welch Regiment (Service No. 8116) and the 1911 Census shows him based at Pembroke Dock Barracks, Pembroke, Wales. At the time of his death he held the rank of Lance Corporal. He served in France & Flanders from 1 Sep 1914 but was presumed dead on 6 Nov 1914. He was awarded the Victory and British War Medals as well as the 1914 Star and clasp. His name appears on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium, (Panel 37). He is also remembered on the War Memorial at Ludwell as well as in the Welsh Book of Remembrance. Arthur's brother Ernest John (b.1879) also served in the war, with the Royal Engineers. Their father died in 1915 and their mother in 1922.