Arthur Rideout – Royal Army Service Corps

Private Arthur Rideout – Royal Army Service Corps

Birth and Family Background

Thomas Rideout and Evelyn Rogers
marriage certificate
St Peter’s Church, Swansea

Arthur Rideout was born in 1921 at Swansea. He was the son of Thomas Rideout and Evelyn Rogers, who were married in 1907 at St Peter’s Church, Swansea.

1921 Census

The 1921 Census records the Rideout family residing at 4 Somerset Place, Mumbles. Thomas Rideout (45) was employed as a coal trimmer with the Shipping Federation, while his wife Evelyn (29) undertook household duties. Their children were Ivor (21), a postman employed by the Post Office, Swansea; Evelyn (13); Fred (12); Stanley (7), all attending school; George (6); and Arthur, aged six months.

Military Service

Arthur later enlisted in the British Army and served as a Private with the Royal Army Service Corps. By August 1943, units of the corps were heavily engaged across North Africa, following the end of the Tunisian Campaign earlier that year. Although large-scale fighting had concluded, British and Commonwealth forces remained deployed throughout Algeria and Tunisia, where service personnel were responsible for maintaining supply lines, transporting troops and equipment, and supporting preparations for continuing operations in the Mediterranean theatre, including the invasion of Italy.

These duties were carried out under hazardous conditions. Long-distance convoys operated over poor roads and difficult terrain, often carrying fuel, ammunition, and other essential supplies. Accidents, mechanical failures, residual enemy threats, unexploded ordnance, and occasional air activity continued to pose serious risks, and casualties still occurred even away from the main front lines.

Death and Burial

On 24^th August 1943, while engaged in these active service duties in Algeria, Private Arthur Rideout was killed in action. He is buried at Bone War Cemetery, Annaba, Algeria, where many Commonwealth servicemen who died during operations in North Africa are laid to rest