No.16830, Private, Arthur BALLS
Aged 25
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Arthur Balls was born in Isleham 28th November 1891 (Newmarket Q4-1891 3B:538), baptised in Isleham on 30th July 1893, the son of Arthur and Mary
BALLS (née PAMMENT).
1901 census...Aged 9, he was at The Pits, Isleham with his father Arthur [35] a journeyman blacksmith; his mother Mary [32]; brothers John [13] a market gardener's labourer, Charles H. [11] and Sidney [5], and sisters Clara [3] and Florence E. [5 months]. They were all born in Isleham. 1911 census... Aged 19, a farm labourer, still at The Pits, Isleham with his parents, brother Charles Henry (now a farm labourer), brother Sidney, also a farm labourer, and sisters Clara and Florence Ethel. One sibling had died. The family were still there on the pension card (1919) |
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He enlisted in Newmarket. He would have been in the action at Boom Ravine between Courcelette and Miraumont on 17th February 1917 when the 2nd and 18th Divisions took part in a concentrated effort to take this strongly defended feature, and Petit-Miraumont beyond and put pressure on the Germans in the Ancre Valley. This action was generally known as Miraumont but to the 8th Suffolks it was Boom Ravine. The frost which had lasted a month suddenly thawed and the ground became a gluey mess over which it was very difficult to move. Their objectives were quickly gained despite heavy fighting in front of un-cut wire and they got as far as a few hundred yards from Petit Miraumont. There they consolidated, helped by a mist which hindered enemy observation. They had suffered 130 casualties, of which 35 were killed, 12 of them have no known grave but the rest are all in Regina Trench Cemetery in Grandcourt. Information gleaned from Lt.Col. Murphy's "History of the Suffolk Regiment 1914-1927" and wwww.cwgc.org. |
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