Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

Today, 102 years ago, on April 9, 1918 Corporal number 21243 Arthur Berkeley Long who fought in the 107th Howitzer Battery, 7th Brigade of the Australian Field Artillery was killed in action in the Somme and to commemorate the anniversary of his death I would like to pay him a very respectful tribute🌺

Arthur Berkeley Long was born in 1891 in Townsville, Queensland and he was the son of Joseph Long and Eliza Mary Pain and they lived in Franz Road, Hendra, Brisbane, Queensland. Arthur was educated at Nero Farm State School, Brisbane, Queensland and before the war he was a traveller.

Enlisted on January 15, 1916 at the age of 24 as a gunner in the 9th Field Artillery Brigade, 36th Battery, he embarked with his unit from Sydney, New South Wales on board the HMAT A8 Argyllshire on May 11, 1916.Disembarked in Devonport,England on July 10, 1916 where he received his training, he then embarked with his unit for France and for the Somme front on January 13, 1917 and was transferred to the 107th Howitzer Battery, 7th Brigade, Australian Field Artillery.

Arthur fought in the Somme for 4 months but on April 9, 1918, in Mericourt-L'Abbé, Somme, a German plane flew over his battery and dropped bombs which injured Arthur in the foot and in the abdomen and he was evacuated in the 20th Casualty Clearing Station in Vignacourt where he died of his wounds a few hours later at the age of 27

Today, Arthur Berkeley Long rests in peace at the Vignacourt British Cemetery, Somme.

Thank you Arthur, you who rest today in the silence and peace of the Somme, today we remember you with respect under the flame of Remembrance that we keep alive, you are still alive, in our hearts and in our thoughts. You have done your duty with bravery and devotion for Australia and for France, the Somme will never forget and will never forget you, you have written history with your courage and with your heart, your devotion but also with your blood which lights up the poppies in which your memory is intact more than 100 years later and we thank you for all that you have done for us.At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember him, we will remember them🌺