Notes
The Bradford Grammar School website (see References) states: 'Arthur Linforth was born on 21st April 1888. His parents James Henry Linforth and Mary Ann (nee Tippings) had three children, of whom Arthur was the youngest. The family had humble origins. Both of Arthur’s grandfathers were gardeners, and his father trained as a cabinet maker. The extension of the vote to working men (1867, 1884) and the organisation of permanent constituency parties created new opportunities. In the 1880s James Linforth changed career completely and became a constituency party secretary and election agent for the National Liberal Association. The Liberals at the time were the governing party. His work required him to move around the country. By the time of Arthur was born in 1888 the family had moved from
Lichfield to Nottingham; in 1901 they were in Rawdon, near Leeds and Bradford; and by 1915, James live at Leatherhead in Surrey. His eldest son Oliver followed in his footsteps and in 1911 was also a political agent, living near Southend-on-sea in Essex.
Arthur attended Bradford Grammar School for two years (1903-1905) between the ages of fifteen and seventeen. His school record was undistinguished. After school he went into farming until in 1911 aged twenty-three he emigrated to Alberta, Canada, a place seen as a land of opportunity by many young British men at the time. Much of the province of Alberta had only recently been divided up into farms. Arthur had a farmstead in the village of Edgerton in the centre of the province, not far from Edmonton. When war broke out he was slow to respond. Although he was a member of a Canadian Militia battalion, the Edmonton Fusiliers, it was only in January 1916 that he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force as Lieutenant in the Edmonton - recruited 51st Canadian Infantry Battalion. This suggests that his militia service had shown him to have an officer’s qualities. The 51st embarked for Britain in April 1916, but it never saw service on the Western Front. In June Arthur was transferred to the 52nd Battalion, which was serving with the Canadian Corps near Ypres in Belgium.
In early September the whole Canadian Corps marched south in stages from Ypres to the Somme to participate in the attack planned for 15th September. This was to be supported by tanks for the first time in the history of warfare. Linforth’s battalion was in reserve for this operation, but was sent forward to attack on the afternoon of the following day, their objective a German strongpoint called Zollern Redoubt, which lay east of Thiepval. In order to reach their starting line in Fabeck Graben, a trench captured the previous day, they had to cross an open slope. They came under intense bombardment by artillery, machine gun and rifle fire, and were unable to advance. Eleven officers and 244 men became casualties. Arthur was one of four officers killed.
It was reported initially in the Ottawa Journal for 25th September that Linforth was wounded, one of 1100 Canadian casualties listed that day. It was later announced that he was dead. He was buried near Mouquet Farm, but his grave was destroyed in subsequent fighting. His name is recorded on the Canadian Memorial to the Missing at Vimy Ridge, and
also the war memorial at Leatherhead, where his father lived. Oliver Linforth served as a Lieutenant in the Norfolk Regiment. He survived the war.'