Arthur Crompton originally enlisted in the Pals on the 24th September 1914 as Private 16008.
He transferred to the Army Cyclist Corps as Acting Lance Corporal 9927, being posted to the 31st Division Cyclist Company on the 2nd October 1915 but was deprived of his stripe on the 3rd December for overstaying his leave from Hurdcott Camp. A few days later he embarked for Egypt, arriving at Suez on the 23rd December 1915. He returned to the Chorley Company of the 11th Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment on the 25th May 1916, less than six weeks before the attack on Serre. His service record stated that he was a Bombing Specialist. On the 1st July he was wounded in the head, receiving treatment at Etaples on the French coast before being shipped back to the U.K. aboard the Hospital Ship ‘Newhaven’ on the 6th July.
After treatment, he was transferred to the 6th Battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment as Private 27269, embarking for India in early 1917. He saw service in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) from the 23rd May 1917, being “in the field” on the 9th June that year. He eventually left India on the 21st September 1919, being discharged from the Army on the 13th November.
Arthur Crompton was born in Liverpool in August 1883. He married Clara Yeadon at Weaste near Salford on the 18th June 1910 and their daughter, Hetty, was born in Chorley on the 13th February 1914. They lived at 2 Taylor Street in the town, worshipping at Trinity Wesleyan Church.
Before the war, Arthur worked as an Engraver.
