PTE. 29606 ARNOLD HINDLE
22nd October 1916
PTE. 29606 ARNOLD HINDLE of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment died of wounds sustained on October 22nd 1916 on the battlefields of the Somme near Thiepval in France.
Arnold lived with his mother at 579 Pilling Terrace, Manchester Road, Baxenden. He was aged twenty one. Before he enlisted in January 1916 he was employed at Kearns Allan & Co. Dyeworks, Baxenden. He was a regular attender at St. John’s Baxenden Church and Sunday School. He was a popular member of Baxenden Liberal Club. Arnold was well known in the district, and his genial disposition won for him the warm respect of many.
Arnold was mortally wounded on the final day of a fourteen day period in the trenches. In the heavy fighting for Thiepval Ridge, a strongpoint on which the Germans fought to the death, his battalion lost seventy dead and 148 wounded. Arnold died in a field hospital in Albert, a small town four miles to the south. He is buried in Albert Communal Cemetery Extension on the outskirts of the town. It was used by fighting units and field ambulances from August 1915 until November 1916. Some 720 British, Australian and Canadian soldiers are buried there. The cemetery is planted with limes and Irish yews. It is on high ground with extensive views of the old battlefields to the south.