Date of birth: 28/08/1893

Place of birth: Wimbledon, Surrey, England, United Kingdom

Profession: Station Hand - Farm Hand

Country: Australia

Force: Australian Imperial Force

Rank: Private

Service number: 1519

Enlistment date: 29/12/1914

Enlistment place: Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia

Units:  —  Australian Machine Gun Corps, 1st Coy.  (Last known unit)

Date of death: 04/10/1917

Place of death: Molenaarelsthoek, Zonnebeke, Belgium

Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Age: 24

1914-15 Star Medal

British War Medal Medal

Victory Medal Medal

Arthur Duncombe King was born in Wimbledon, England in 1893. He emigrated to Australia, where he worked as a farm hand.

Arthur enlisted in December 1914 and was assigned to the 4th Battalion Australian Infantry, with which he served at Gallipoli. In March he was assigned a new service number in Moudros, Greece. In May 1915 Arthur was hospitalized for Inflammation Connecting Tissue at his foot. In August 1915 he was wounded again. This time he was hospitalized with a superficial Gun Shot Wound to the head. After convalescing, Arthur left for France, where he arrived in March 1916. He was promoted Temporary Corporal of his unit April 17th. However, he reverted ranks at his own request by the end of May. At that time, he also joined the 1st Australian Machine Gun Company. In August he was admitted to hospital (probably with tuberculosis). From September 1916 until May 1917 he was part of the Assistant Provost Marshal staff.

In October 1917, the 1st Australian Machine Gun Company was to support the 1st Australian Division’s attack during the Battle of Broodseinde. The 3rd Australian Infantry Battalion was to take the first objective, a line past the hamlet of Molenaarelsthoek on the Broodseinde Ridge. The 1st Australian Infantry Battalion (on the left) and the 4th Australian Infantry (on the right) were then to take the second objective, a line west of Celtic Wood. “C” section of the 1st Australian Machine Gun Company would cover the attack of the 1st Battalion, “D” section would cover the 4th Battalion. Once the first objective had been consolidated “D” section took up positions on the Broodseinde Ridge, between Molenaarelsthoek and Noordemdhoek, with four machineguns. However, the section was caught by a few German, but also a few allied, shells. One gun crew was taken out. The three remaining guns took up new positions near Molenaarelsthoek.

Arthur King, 24, was reported to have died of his wounds on October 5th. A later enquiry stated that he had been killed in action on the 4th of October. He was one of the 34 casualties of the Machine Gun Company. He was buried behind the new frontline near Retaliation Farm. After the war his remains were interred in Buttes New British Cemetery.

1st Australian Machine Gun Company, (Australian War Memorial, Campbell (AWM), AWM4 24/6/20). https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338583 Sources used

Australian War Memorial https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10245830 Sources used

First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, (National Archives of Australia, Canberra (NAA), B2455, KING A D). https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/NameSearch.aspx. Sources used

Mc Carthy C., Passchendaele, the Day-by-Day account, (London, Unicorn Publishing Group, 2018), pp. 110-113. Further reference

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/480321

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=bb1293a1-a72b-4c1e-a6d4-3c21f965b25a

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7320442

The AIF Project (UNSW Canberra) https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=165068