Current Information:

Born-Hemel Hempstead

Enlisted-Westminster

The First World War saw an enormous growth in the size of the British army, not just in the infantry and artillery but also in all of the other branches including the Royal Engineers, without whom the war could not have been fought. The engineers were responsible for the maintenance of all the supply routes to the front line including roads, bridges, canals, railways. They looked after the telephones and the embryonic wireless system and they made sure that there was a water supply. They designed and built the fortifications both in the front line and further back, including gun emplacements and they were responsible for all tunnelling and mining work. Each division usually had three Field Companies attached to them and when an attack went in so did the engineers to help consolidate any gains made.

126th Field Company of the Royal Engineers were attached to 21st Division which at the end of September, 1916 were involved in the Battle of Morval on the Somme. On 1st October, when Arthur Janes was killed, they were in the process of being relieved. Reliefs were always dangerous times as the enemy invariably knew what was going on and targeted the area and perhaps this was when he was killed.