VE Day #2: Arthur White

The second post in our mini-series of posts about some people connected to Middleton Hall who were involved in the Second World War concerns Arthur White. His name appears on the World War II memorial plaque in Middleton Parish Church.

Arthur was born on 8th November 1884 in Birmingham and married May Moore in Tamworth in 1913. In 1921, they were living at 31 East View, Glascote, Tamworth and Arthur was a coal miner at Amington Colliery. The reason Arthur has a relevance to the history of Middleton Hall was because in 1939, and until his death, he was living in one of the Middleton Hall Cottages. Middleton Hall Cottages was the name given to the three stand-alone cottages that the owner of Middleton Hall, John Averill, had created in the 1920s from the Jettied Building, John Ray Building and the east end of the South Wing. It is thought that Arthur and May lived in the Cottage in the John Ray Building.

Arthur died on 14th September 1941, aged 57. The reason that he is on the Second World War memorial plaque is because he was in the Home Guard. However, he died in a road traffic accident. At the time of his death, Arthur worked as a labourer for Birmingham Tame and Rea Drainage Board. He was returning home from work on his bicycle with Charles John Dixon, another tenant of one of the Middleton Hall Cottages, when he was hit by a car as he was cycling across the crossroads at the entrance to the drive to Middleton Hall. He died from his injuries. The coroner’s inquest report noted that Arthur was wearing his Home Guard uniform and carrying a rifle when he died.

War Memorial Plaque in St John's Church, Middleton, 2024. Photograph taken by Steve Davies.

The Home Guard was an unpaid, but armed, citizen militia of people who were ineligible for military service but wanted to defend their country in the case that Britain was invaded. They were ineligible normally due to their age or because they worked in reserved occupations. Arthur was ineligible due to his age because military service was restricted to those between the ages of 18 and 41. The Home Guard was established on 14th May 1940 and it had been estimated that about 500,000 men might volunteer but within two months there were over 1.5 million volunteers.

The primary role of the Home Guard was to be a secondary local defence force in case of invasion by Germany. In 1941, after the threat of imminent invasion had decreased, the Home Guard still continued to undertake duties such as manning guard posts, which enabled regular troops to focus more on operational activities. The Home Guard were officially stood down on 3rd December 1944 and disbanded on 31st December 1945. Members of the Home Guard were rewarded with a certificate, which said: "In the years when our Country was in mortal danger, [name] who served [dates] gave generously of his time and powers to make himself ready for her defence by force of arms and with his life if need be. George R.I."

Further Reading: "Middleton Accident: Pedal Cyclist Fatally Injured", Tamworth Herald, 20 September 1941.

1921 census, RG15/12905/237.

1939 register, RG101/5742A/012/27.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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