Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Arthur was the son of George HECTOR & Mary Ann MATES (MEATES) and was born on the 16th of October 1891 in Jamestown, SA.

His parents were married on the 25th of February 1884 at the residence of Mary’s parents in Jamestown, SA.

His father was the son of Thomas HECTOR & Ann GILLARD and was born in 1856.
His mother was the daughter of William MATES (MEATES) & Julie NEALE and was born on the 18th of September 1866 in Pekina, SA.

Arthur was the fourth child born into the family of 7 children.

Arthur was educated in Jamestown and after he completed his schooling he gained employment as a labourer.

His elder 2 brothers George (488) & Stanley (489), enlisted into the 43rd Battalion, C Company on the 21st of February 1916.

At the age of 24, Arthur enlisted into the AIF on the 9th of March 1916 in Jamestown and allotted the service number 2128 and posted to D Company, 2nd Depot Battalion in Mitcham Camp. He was then posted to the 5th Pioneer Battalion, 3rd Reinforcements on the 20th of April and then on the 12th of July he was transferred to the 5th Pioneer Battalion, 4th Reinforcements.

During this time George& Stanley embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT Afric on the 9th of June 1916.

He embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT Itria on the 14th of August 1916, disembarked in Plymouth on the 30th of October and after completing further training he proceeded to France.

Arthur finally embarked from England on the 2nd of June 1919 on board HT Beltana, disembarked in Adelaide on the 15th of July and was discharged from the AIF on the 29th of August 1919.

Arthur married Emily WILSON on the 21st of October 1921 in the Presbyterian Church, Jamestown, SA.
Emily was the daughter of Henry WILSON & Ellen Selina MATHEWS and was born on the 11th of May 1884 in Belalie, SA.

Emily was previously in a relationship with William Frederick Saunders and they had fostered a little boy named Jack.
Jack and his twin sister; Effie had been born on the 9th of January 1917 to Dossie Agnes Alice BUTTON & Malcolm Frederick HALLAM.
William had enlisted into the 43rd Battalion on the 26th of May 1917 and sadly died on the 2nd of September 1918 from wounds he received in France.

When Arthur and Emily married they raised Jack as their own son.

They lived in Pt Pirie for many years before moving to Caltowie where Arthur was employed as a labourer and he joined the Jamestown RSL.

With the outbreak of WW2 their son Jack enlisted on the 24th of August 1942 (SX22209). After the war Jack married Dulcie Joyce BEVAN on the 1st of December 1945 in Caltowie and Arthur and Emily became grandparents.

Emily died on the 8th of September 1952 and Arthur buried her the following day in the Jamestown Cemetery; Section C, Row Z, Plot 8.

Arthur died on the 4th of June 1953 in the Jamestown Hospital and was buried 2 days later in the Jamestown Cemetery; Section C, Row Z, Plot 9.

Military

At the age of 24, Arthur enlisted into the AIF on the 9th of March 1916 in Jamestown and allotted the service number 2128 and posted to D Company, 2nd Depot Battalion in Mitcham Camp.
He listed his father, of Caltowie as his next of kin.

Arthur was then posted to the 5th Pioneer Battalion, 3rd Reinforcements on the 20th of April and then on the 12th of July he was transferred to the 5th Pioneer Battalion, 4th Reinforcements.

He embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT Itria on the 14th of August 1916, disembarked in Plymouth on the 30th of October and marched into No.3 Details Camp in Parkhouse.

On the 21st of November Arthur was posted to the Pioneer Training Battalion in Perham Downs where he spent Christmas 1916 and completed further training.
Arthur proceeded to France on the 4th of February 1917 and was taken on strength with the 5th Pioneer Battalion 5 days later, at Waterlot Farm.

Here they worked on the deep dugouts at Flers and the front line trenches and also took advantage of a hard frost. With the ground being frozen solid for about one foot deep they were able to get large quantities of material forward so that when the thaw started to happen and the trenches got slippery, material was available to meet the situation & work was consequently a good deal easier.

Early in March the Divisional sector was extended and the enemy trenches were captured all along one front which necessitated further extension of the communication trenches and the existing narrow gauge railway system by the Battalion.
The enemy shelling increased in intensity at this time and consequently rendered the work more difficult besides increasing casualties. Needle dump where most of their material was stored and where the railway had terminated was a particularly nasty spot.
Despite this and the bad weather conditions excellent progress was made with both trenches and railway and then on the 17th of March the enemy suddenly withdrew all along the front.

This of course, for the Pioneers meant more hard work, for the strip of country about 3 miles wide, either side of the front line was trackless and roadless and now had to be traversed by the armies.
This was realized but so great was the moral uplift given by the enemy’s withdrawal that they cheerfully faced the new tasks ahead.
Then from the 24th of March the Battalion controlled a mule tramway, hauling stores and ammunition by this line by mules to Beaulencourt, 100 tons of material being shifted daily.

As the Railway work was completed, attention was diverted to roads and among other works they filled a large mine crater (80ft x 30ft deep) in the Main Cambrai road and they made a brick & log road over the top.
They also dug 18 strong points in the neighbourhood of Vaulx-Vraucourt and then on the 20th of April they were relieved and were sent back to repair the road through Flers, over which the Divisional Transport had to pass.
This was completed by the following afternoon and they moved to the hutted camp near Bernafay Wood.

The following day they moved to Fricourt camp where a small amount of training was carried out but attention was chiefly devoted to sport. Football & athletics were the order of the day, a fine boxing stadium was built and the ground prepared for a Divisional Horse Show near Albert.
The Battalion also constructed its own rifle range.
However all these preparations were cut short and they were conveyed by light railway to Bapaume, marching on to a camp near Vaulx on the 9th of May.

They stayed in this sector for a fortnight and constructed a trench tramway from Vaulx to 600 yards beyond Noreuil, carried forward 8000 yards of rail for further extensions, built 5 deep dugouts and 2 communication trenches running to the Hindenburgh line were maintained and a large quantity of mining timber man handled from Noreuil to the Hindenburgh Line.

They then moved to the villages of Thilloy & Ligny Thilloy just behind Bapaume. While specialist training such as bombing, signalling and Lewis Guns was indulged here, the main body of the Battalion was ordered to dig trenched defences for the villages of Baucourt & Reincourt, which they completed by the 12th of June.

The Battalion moved 5 days later to Midland Huts Camp, near Albert. Here a more complete training programme was put into practice.
This was somewhat interfered with by various jobs which were ordered to be carried out, such as cleaning the bed of the River Ancre, which was actually extremely popular, as the weather was hot and the work had to be carried out with or without bathing costumes.
It was her on the 5th of July that Arthur went AWOL for 24 hours and was awarded 7 days Field Punishment No.2 & forfeited 9 days pay.

Their next moved was to Corbie and by late July they had moved to Blaringhem where they enjoyed a long spell before moving to Ypres on the 7th of September.
Their camp for the next two months while the Ypres offensive was in progress was at Pioneer Camp with most of their work, pipe laying and road construction, being 4 miles away.
Early in October the mud difficulties became most acute but the large quantities of material that they had been got forward earlier eased the situation somewhat.
They then constructed new railways, more plank roads, mule tracks and duckwalk tracks before moving to Hesdigneul on the 15th of December for a rest.
Christmas 1917 was spent here and some leave to Boulogne was available.

At the end of January 1918 they moved into camp in the Messines area and returned to former tasks. By the end of February most of the roads in the neighbourhood of Messines which had previously been impassable were open for traffic.
A large number of entrenched strong posts were built & miles of barbed wire constructed.
On March 26th they moved to Reninghelst and 2 days later they moved to Arqueves for a rest.

Then on the 5th of April they moved to Blangy- Trouville where they buried 2½ miles of cable and established roads across the marshes alongside the river before handing over to the 4th Pioneer Battalion and moving to a camp behind La Houssoye.
By the end of July 3½ miles of trench had been deepened to 5’ 6" deep & 5 feet wide, while 1½ miles of new trenches were dug before they moved to Bussy-les-Daous.

They were then tasked with fixing the road leading through Villers Brettoneux & Warfusee for the battle on the 8th of August.
A few days later they moved to Morcourt and then onto Vaux sur Somme.

With the capture of Peronne on the 1st of September Arthur and his Battalion concentrated on load & bridge work and maintaining roads.
At Bellicourt a heavy ground mist made it extremely difficult to know what was going on and on approaching Bellicourt they found themselves among German infantry and consequently were drawn into the fighting.
The Huns, however, surrendered without much effort but in Bellicourt itself stiff opposition was encountered.

Further work on the roads was carried out beyond Belllicourt on October 1st and then 3 days later they moved back to Roisel. After a few days first at Roisel and subsequently at Peronne the whole division was withdrawn to an area near Abbeville for a thorough rest. Here training was carried out and a large amount of time devoted to athletics & sport amusements.
Whilst here Arthur gained 2 weeks leave to England before rejoining his Battalion on the 3rd of November at Cerisy-Buleux.

Six days later they received orders to be ready to move the following day to further take part in the fighting, but the move was then cancelled and rescheduled for the 12th of November.

Luckily the Armistice was signed on November 11th and the Battalions war career was now over.
A move by very tedious stages was made at the end of November to Hautrepe and then a fortnight later to Beaurieux. At Hautrepe demobilization began and from then onwards the battalion dwindled.

Arthur and the last 129 men of the Battalion embarked for England on May 15th.

Arthur embarked from England on the 2nd of June 1919 on board HT Beltana and disembarked in Adelaide on the 15th of July.

Arthur was discharged from the AIF on the 29th of August 1919 and awarded the British War & Victory Medals.