Rigby Arthur Edgar Sergt 45652

SKR/DAT/IP/15610

Rigby Arthur Edgar Sergt 45652

2000-2024

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Surname: Rigby;

Forename(s): Arthur Edgar;

Initials: AE;

Number: 45652;

Rank: Sergt;

Born in: Crumpsall, Lancs;

Enlisted in: Bedford;

Enlistment Date: 10-Dec-1915;

Resided in: Hadley;

Previous Number: 10163;

Previous Battalion: 3 of;

Previous Regiment: E Kent Regt;

Date of transfer to MGC: 27-Jul-1916;

MGC Branch: Infantry;

MGC Unit: 75 Coy;

Other MGC Unit Served (1): 101 Coy;

Other MGC Unit Served (2): 34 Bn;

Date abroad: 01-Apr-1917;

Theatre of War: 1;

How killed: KIA;

Where: Belgium;

When killed: 09-Apr-1918;

Other Data: b 1888
WO363(FMP)
24/10/1917 to Grantham - course
29/1/1918 to BEF 34 Bn

Courtesy of Mark Hone & Bury Grammar School Centenary Memorial:
— -------------------------
Arthur Rigby was bom on 18th November 1887 in Broughton, Salford, the son of Joseph Rigby
and his wife Eliza. Arthur was the couple's third child. Joseph Rigby was a muslin salesman.
By the time of the 1891 Census the family had moved to Crumpsall and by 1901 they were
living at ’Inglewood', Poppythorn Lane in Prestwich. Joseph Rigby, now 50, was Managing
Director of the Lancashire Muslin Dress Goods Company. After early education at the Higher
Grade School in Cheetham, Arthur Rigby joined the Lower Fourth of Bury Grammar School
in September 1901. He started at the same time as John Kelly Bridge, who would serve at
Gallipoli and die of meningitis in Egypt in 1919. Arthur left as a member of the Fifth Form in
July 1904.
By 1911, Arthur and his elder brother Joseph were both working as salesman in a drapery
warehouse, presumably the family business. Joseph Junior's speciality was lace curtains while
Arthur sold blouses. Interestingly, the family was still living in Poppythom Lane but at a
different house, called ‘Studleigh’.Their old house, ‘Inglewood’ was now the home of a retired
doctor and his family. On 20th November 1915, just after his 28th birthday, Arthur Rigby
married Gertrude Martha Gibson of 63 Rectory Lane, Prestwich. Three weeks later, on 10th
December 1915, he completed his army attestation papers at Barnet in Hertfordshire. He gave
his address as 3 Highstone Villas, Hadley, a village just north of Barnet and the site of the 1471
Battle of Bamet during the Wars of the Roses. He gave his occupation as Commercial
Traveller. His height was recorded as 5’4 1/2” with a 33” chest. He was allotted to the Army
Reserve as a Private. However, Arthur Rigby was not actually called up until 30,h June 1916,
when he reported to Bedford and was posted to 3rd (Training) Battalion of the Royal East Kent
Regiment, better known as ‘The Buffs’.
Arthur Rigby was appointed as an Acting Lance Corporal as soon as he arrived at the
Regimental depot in Canterbury on 1st June. He spent only a few days with the Buffs because
on 28th July 1916 he was transferred to the recently-formed Machine Gun Corps. Previously,
four medium machine guns had been assigned to each infantry battalion but now these were
combined together into a special Machine Gun Companies, three per division, to provide more
flexible fire support. It was decided that the men in these companies would belong to a new
specialist Machine Gun Corps with its own cap badge. The Headquarters of the new Corps was
established at Belton Park near Grantham in Lincolnshire.
Arthur Rigby reported to Belton Park for machine gun training. He was promoted to Corporal
on 27th March 1917 and on la April he crossed the channel from Folkestone to Boulogne,
joining the MGC base at Camiers. On 14th July 1917 he was posted to 75th Company, Machine
Gun Corps, part of the British 25th Division. On 11th August he was admitted to hospital
suffering from scabies. Scabies is an unpleasant infestation of the human skin by the mite
Sarcoptes Scabiei. The mites burrow into the skin and lay their eggs, which causes relentless
itching and rashes. Often starting between the fingers, scabies usually spreads over the whole
body, except for the head. It was widespread in the unhygienic circumstances of trench warfare
and was one of the commonest ailments afflicting British soldiers in the Great War.
On 16th October Corporal Rigby returned to the MGC Base Depot at Camiers and from there
to Grantham nine days later, where he underwent further training. He was promoted to Sergeant
(or ‘Serjeant’ as it was often spelled at the time) ‘to complete establishment’. He returned to
France on 29,h January 1918, going once again via Folkestone and Boulogne and reporting to
Camiers. At this point, the MGC was undergoing further reorganisation. The individual
machine gun companies were now combined into Machine Gun Battalions, numbered after
their parent Division. Arthur was posted to 34th MGC Battalion on 27th February 1918, the day
after the unit's official formation under Lieutenant Colonel E.H. Hendrick DSO, formerly of
11th Suffolk Regiment. On that day, the newly-formed battalion was marching from Liencourt
to Bellacourt. On 28th, they completed their move to Northumberland Lines near the village of
Mercatel. Research has established that on the day he was killed, 9th April 1918, Arthur Rigby
was a member of No 4 Machine Gun Section of A Company, but it cannot be established
whether he was attached to this section from the start.
On 21st March, the Germans launched a massive assault on the British forces stationed between
the city of Arras and the River Oise. 34th Division, stationed just south of Arras, managed to
hold its own despite suffering heavy casualties. On March 23rd the Division was relieved in the
front line by another unit and was eventually sent north to a quieter sector near the town of
Armentieres on the French/Belgian border. Little did they know that this area would soon
become the focus of the next stage of the German offensive, Operation ‘Georgette’, or the
Battle of the Lys as it became known to the British.
On 9th April 1918 No 4 Section of A Company, under 2nd Lieutenant Aston, was attached to
101s1 Infantry Brigade in the village of Erquinghem on the River Lys. Following an intense
‘hurricane’ bombardment, the troops of fourteen German divisions swarmed forward on a ten
mile front between Bethune and Armentieres. As the German attack developed, No. 4 Section
was moved into action. According to a detailed account in the Battalion War Diary:
‘Leaving the fighting limbers and mules in ERQUINGHEM-LYS, No4 Section came into action
about I lam on the 9th inst. and took up positions in the line running through H. 17.dand H. 18.a,
fire being brought to bear on the enemy advancingfrom the direction of CANTEEN FARM and
GRIS POT. The Section Sergeant was killed as the first gun was getting into position and about
3pm Sec-Lieut Aston was wounded and carried out
We can be fairly confident that the Sergeant referred to is Arthur Rigby, as he is the only soldier
from 34th Battalion MGC of that rank who is recorded as being killed on 9th April. The account
goes on:
‘ The effective fire from these four guns held the enemy in check for the rest of the day and until
lam on the l(Yh inst, when the 11th Suffolks withdrew, leaving them in the air. Only 5 men
succeeded in getting away, and they are the only survivors of this section, all four guns with
gear being lost. Unfortunately, no accurate account of the work done by this section can be
got, but they undoubtedly played a great part in the holding up of the enemy on the front of the
101st Brigade.
Sergeant Arthur Rigby has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial
to the Missing, a few miles away across the Belgian border. Three other soldiers of 34th
Battalion MGC, killed on the same day, are also commemorated there. A separation allowance
of 15 shillings was paid to his widow in Prestwich until 10th November 1918.

Sources: Bury Grammar School Archives; Ancestry; Service Record of Sergeant Arthur
Edgar Rigby; War Diary of 34th Battalion Machine Gun Corps; Commonwealth War
Graves Commission; Contributors to the Great War Forum.
Written by M.J. Hone 2018;

Other Notes: RIGBY, Serjeant, ARTHUR EDGAR, 45652. 34th Bn. Machine Gun Corps (Inf). 9th April 1918. Age 30. Son of J. H. Rigby, of "Poppythorn," Myra Rd., Fairhaven, Lytham, Lancs; husband of Gertrude Martha Rigby, of "Bryn Derwen," Caerwys, Flintshire. Panel 11. Ploegsteert Memorial - Comines-Warneton, Hainaut, Belgium.;

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