Arthur Ernest Clifford Austin - Sapper - Royal Engineers – 93rd Field Company

 Arthur Ernest Clifford Austin was born in Swansea in 1895, the son of Richard Austin and Ada Boden, who had married in Swansea in 1888.

1901 Census

At the time of the 1901 Census, the Austin family were living at 142 Lower Oxford Street, Swansea. Arthur’s father, Richard, aged 40, was employed as a mason, while his mother, Ada, aged 34, had been born in Liverpool, Lancashire.

The couple had four young children living at home. Arthur, recorded as Clifford, was six years old, while his younger siblings were Mary B., aged four, Hubert, two, and Ada Florence, who was just one month old.

Also residing at the property was a boarder, Samuel Hearn, aged 34, who worked as a baker, together with a 15-year-old domestic servant, Beatrice Brown. A visitor, Henry Dumbrille, aged 36, whose occupation was recorded as a corn merchant, was also present on the night of the census.

1911 Census

Ten years later, the 1911 Census recorded the family living at 176 Oxford Street, Swansea. Richard, now aged 51, continued to work as a general mason, while his wife, Ada, was 44 years old.

Their eldest son, Arthur Ernest Clifford, now aged 16, had begun an apprenticeship as a plumber, learning a skilled trade that would have offered him the prospect of a future career. His younger siblings were Mary Beatrice, aged 14, Herbert Neville, 12, and Ada Florence, 10.

Growing up in a household where his father worked as a mason, Arthur would have been familiar with the building trades from an early age. His own apprenticeship as a plumber provided him with practical skills that may later have proved valuable during his military service.

Following the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Arthur entered military service, joining the Royal Engineers. He served as a Sapper with the 93rd Field Company, a unit responsible for providing vital engineering support to troops serving on the Western Front.

The work of the Royal Engineers was both demanding and dangerous. Field companies were responsible for constructing and repairing trenches, bridges, roads and defensive positions, as well as maintaining essential routes of communication and carrying out engineering tasks under enemy fire.

The 93rd Field Company served with the 17th (Northern) Division, which took part in the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

The Somme offensive began on 1st July 1916 and developed into one of the bloodiest campaigns of the First World War. Throughout the summer, British and Commonwealth forces fought to capture heavily defended German positions, often at an enormous cost in lives.

Royal Engineers units played an essential role during the fighting, frequently working close to the front line, where they were exposed to artillery bombardments, machine-gun fire and other dangers of the battlefield.

It was during this period of intense fighting that Arthur lost his life.

Sapper Arthur Ernest Clifford Austin was killed in action on 11th August 1916, during the Battle of the Somme. He was approximately 21 years old.

Although the precise circumstances of his death are not known, his service with the 93rd Field Company placed him among the men carrying out vital engineering duties in support of the British Army during the Somme campaign.

Tragically, Arthur's body was never recovered or identified, and he has no known grave. His name is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, France.

The Thiepval Memorial commemorates more than 72,000 British and South African servicemen who died in the Somme sector during the First World War and have no known grave, the majority having lost their lives during the fighting of 1916.

For his parents, Richard and Ada, and his younger siblings, Mary Beatrice, Herbert Neville and Ada Florence, Arthur's death brought the devastating loss of a son and brother who had left his home in Swansea to serve his country.

Having begun his working life as a young apprentice plumber, Arthur would never have the opportunity to complete the future he had started to build for himself.