Arthur John's Story.
Arthur John Berry was born in Knutsford on the 18 February 1896, one of four children born to John (a railway worker) and Ellen Berry (nee Mills) of 289, Concrete Terrace, Cross Town, Knutsford. The family later moved to 8, Green Street, Knutsford.
By the age of 15, Arthur was in service as a Hall Boy at Toft Hall, Knutsford. The hall boy or hallboy was the lowest ranked male domestic worker on the staff of a great house. Usually a boy or young teenager, his name derived from the fact that his main duties were in the servants hall, where he may also have slept.
Like his female counterpart, the scullery maid, the hall boy would have been expected to work up to 16 hours per day, seven days per week. His duties were often among the most disagreeable in the house, such as emptying chamber pots for the higher-ranking servants, and (in the absence of a boot boy) cleaning the boots.
He enlisted at Manchester Recruiting Office in March 1915, becoming Private no. 3378 in the 1/6 Battalion of the Manchester Regiment, later being promoted to Sergeant no. 250959.
He left Britain on the 3 October and arrived in Gallipoli on the 23 October 1915.
He arrived in France on the 1 March 1917, and on the 6 May he was promoted to Sergeant.
Shortly before his death Arthur was awarded the Military Medal when, following and attack on the enemy lines and seeing that all the officers had fallen he took command and won through what was a very difficult situation, calling for no inconsiderable amount of resource and courage.
Arthur was killed on the 22 April 1918.
He was returning from a bombing raid on a German Machine-gun post when a grenade was accidentally dropped by one of his comrades it went off killing him instantly.
There is no entry in the Battalion records of this incident. The awarding of his Military Medal is noted in the war diary 18 April, four days before Arthur was killed.