D’Arcy Valentine Bendall – Welsh Regiment, 13th Battalion

Lance Corporal D’Arcy Valentine Bendall – Welsh Regiment, 13^th Battalion

Birth and Family Background

Francis James Bendall and Alice Lavinia Williams
marriage certificate
St Philip’s Church, Bristol

D’Arcy Valentine Bendall was born in 1888 in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, the son of Francis James Bendall and Alice Lavinia Williams, who married in April 1885 at St Philip’s Church, Bristol.

1891 Census

The 1891 Census records the Bendall family living at 21 Hamilton Terrace, Steynton, Milford Haven. D’Arcy’s father, Francis, aged 35 and born in Gloucestershire, is listed as a Solicitor, while his mother, Alice, aged 25 and also Gloucestershire-born, was caring for their young family. Their children at the time were Francis J. G. (4), born in Gloucestershire; D’Arcy V. (3); and Doris (2), both born in Pembrokeshire. Two servants were also present in the household: Elizabeth A. Thomas, aged 33 and born in Malta, and Mary M. John, a 14-year-old from Glamorgan.

1901 Census

By the 1901 Census, the family had moved to 79 Radbourne Street, Derby. D’Arcy’s father Francis, then 45, continued to work as a Solicitor, and his mother Alice, aged 36, remained at home. The children recorded in the household were Francis J. G. (14), D’Arcy Valentine (13), Doris (12), and Bertram (9), who, like his younger siblings, had been born in Pembrokeshire.

1911 Census

In the 1911 Census, 20-year-old D’Arcy was living as a boarder in the home of William Carswell at 44 Trafalgar Terrace, Swansea. At this time he was employed as a Gasworks Clerk, marking the beginning of his working life away from his family.

Enlistment and Military Service

Attestation Papers

D’Arcy’s Attestation Papers show that when he enlisted in October 1914, his home address was Sea Cottage, Thistleboon, Mumbles. He joined the 7^th (Cyclist) Battalion, Welsh Regiment as a Private.

  

D’Arcy Valentine Bendall and Rebecca Ellen Davies
marriage certificate
All Saints' Church, Oystermouth

In May 1915, he married Rebecca Ellen Davies at All Saints’ Church, Oystermouth, listing his occupation as “soldier.”

He was promoted to Lance Corporal in April 2016, and in July 1916 he was attached to the 13th Battalion, Welsh Regiment, briefly reverting to the rank of Private before being promoted again to Lance Corporal in October 1916.

Death and Burial

Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects

D’Arcy Valentine Bendall 
Bard Cottage Cemetery
credit - findagrave

Serving with the 13^th Battalion, Welsh Regiment, Lance Corporal D’Arcy Valentine Bendall was killed in action on 30^th July 1917. At this time, the battalion had recently returned to the Ypres sector (between 19^th–20^th July 1917) in preparation for a major offensive. Conditions were extremely hazardous: the trenches were under heavy high-explosive shellfire, and the Germans were using a new and more severe form of mustard gas, which caused numerous casualties throughout the unit. On 30 July, the day before the British attack on the Pilckem Ridge began, the 13th Welsh suffered further losses from this intense shell and gas bombardment. The Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects records D’Arcy’s death on this date, and it is highly likely that he was one of the men killed during these pre-offensive bombardments.

West Cumberland Times

The register further confirms that D’Arcy was buried at Bard Cottage Cemetery, one of the principal cemeteries north of Ypres. His death was reported in the West Cumberland Times in August 1917.

Aftermath

1921 Census

By the 1921 Census, his widow, Rebecca Ellen Bendall, was living with her parents at 20 Castleton, Mumbles, and working as a Telephone Operator for the Swansea Telephone Exchange.