Arthur was born in Fermoy in Ireland in 1896. His father was William Donovan and his mother was Jane Scaife, he had 4 sisters and 4 brothers.  His family lived in Essex and he married Elsie Cook from Felixstowe in April 1917, 6 months before he died. Before she married Elsie lived at 113 Chapel Lane in Walton, when Elsie died in 1955 she was living at 19 Chepstow Road Felixstowe.

 

Arthur enlisted in the Army in 1912 at the age of 16, joining the Royal Fusiliers. He later transferred to the 1st Battalion Norfolk Regiment, he was a Lance Sergeant and died close to the end of the battle of Passchendale on the 1st November 1917, age 21.  He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, this memorial bears the names of almost 35,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. Arthur's brother Thomas also died in World War 1, on the 8th Nov 1914, he was in also 1st Bn Norfolk Regt, he was 21 when he died.

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