Biography – Private Arthur Brassington

Family situation

• Born at Wrinehill 2^nd July 1893 to Sarah Ann Cooper; no father’s name on birth certificate.
• Sarah Ann married a John Brassington of Wrinehill the following year, and they had six children after that. One of them Nellie died of TB aged 7 in 1902.
• At that time they were living on Cracow Moss, Phil Coop’s notes state that conditions there were very damp, overcrowded and not conducive to good health, so the family moved to St. Martin’s near Oswestry – possibly for a miner’s job and better housing that went with it.
• Arthur’s mother Sarah Ann Cooper was sister of Emily Cooper, mother of Harry Moss and they lived on Den Lane. No doubt Arthur and Harry, as cousins, had grown up together in Betley area.
• No doubt also that Arthur spent a lot of time at cousin Harry’s in Brassington Terrace. And despite Arthur’s family move to Oswestry they must have kept in touch (Indeed if Arthur ever went) because they enlisted together into the South Lancs Regiment in Crewe. Harry’s Regimental number was 40451 and Arthur’s was 40452.

Service

• Together with Harry Moss and others he transferred to the Royal Warwicks on the same day.
• But whereas Harry got killed in the battle of Cambrai in December 1917, Arthur survived and fought on eventually was killed in August 1918 at Mory, between Arras and Bapaume.

Buried

• Mory Abbey Military Cemetery. Grave IV.A.29