Arnold Jones was the fourth son of John Jones and Eliza Beardmore who married on 8 August 1876 at St. Paul’s church in the Edensor area of Stoke on Trent. John, then 24, was a potter and 20 year old Eliza, a servant. The couple made their first home in Heathcote Road, Edensor, and by the time the census was taken in April 1881, they were living at 124 Edensor Road, Longton.

Living in one of the five towns that made up the famous “Potteries” area, John was earning his living as a potter’s overman, which involved firing the bottle ovens to produce ceramics; a very physical and highly skilled job. The couple had two small children by then, their eldest child having died in infancy. Two more sons, Leonard and Bernard were born into the family before Arnold was born in the summer of 1889. On 1 September, Arnold, as his older siblings had been before him, was taken from the family home in Longton to the parish church of St Paul, in Edensor for baptism.

When the next census return was made in the spring of 1891 the family was living at Howard Street, Trentham. There were four children at home, a second son having died in 1887. Arnold’s 13 year old sister Ethel was working as a school teacher, and his two older brothers, Leonard and Bernard, were both at school. By the time the next census was taken in 1901 the family had moved back to Longton and was living at 29 Levison Street. Of the children still at home, the three eldest were all working in the pottery industry. Arnold, by then 11 years old, was still at school. He likely had a job locally after he left school, but as a young man decided he wanted to join the army. He enlisted in nearby Hanley, probably around the beginning of 1908, joining the Royal Irish Regiment and serving in the 2nd Battalion with service number 9426.

In 1911 the family was living at 29 Alberta Street in Florence, just south of Longton. John was working as a potter’s fireman and two of the older boys were working in the pottery. Arnold was with his battalion, serving in the Channel Islands as a Lance Corporal. The next year, another brother, Bernard, left his job as a potter’s fireman and joined the Royal Field Artillery.  Arnold’s father died in 1913 and was buried in the cemetery in Longton.

In July 1914 the men of 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment were at Willsworthy Camp, Dartmoor, having been stationed at Devonport for several months. The order to begin P Stage mobilisation (Phase 1) was received on 29 July, and the men entrained for the short ride back to Devonport. Officers were called back from leave and over the next week several hundred reservists arrived to join the battalion. On 13 August the men left Devonport, arriving at Southampton around 7am. They embarked SS Herschel about 9pm.

The entry in the battalion war diary for that date records: 

‘…no Naval officer was present to hand the ship over to us and allot berths. As a result, a dug out Naval officer appeared on the scene about midnight and then wanted to shift all the companies to make room for another Unit. We steamed out with the Connaught Rangers all mixed up with us, & yet on the following morning found two portions of the lower deck unoccupied and capable of holding 500 men.’ 

The ship sailed out of Southampton about 3pm on 14 August, the men disembarking at Boulogne and marching off to spend the night at a Rest Camp some 3 miles away. Two days later the men arrived at billets in Taisnieres, where they were to remain for the next few days before moving to Bettignies on 21 August.

Following the frustration of cramped conditions during their journey to France, it seems more housekeeping difficulties arose; on the first field pay day, it took two and a half hours to give each man 5 Francs and get a signature from each one. The adjutant wrote

‘The system is an impossible one. The Captain’s signature to the whole payment should be suffice.’

On 22 August, orders were received to hold the line near Havay, and later in the day at St Symphorien & Villers St Ghislain. The following day saw the battalion’s first direct engagement with the enemy at Mons. Fighting lasted all day and despite their best efforts the battalion had to retreat three times before making a quiet retreat to Nouvelle’s around midnight. The battalion suffered heavy casualties, with about 300 men either killed wounded or missing that day. 

Following the fighting of 23 August, a field hospital, Feldlazarrett Nr. 3 IX Armee-Korps ,was set up at a convent in Maisieres a to treat wounded German and British soldiers who had been taken there.

Officers of the Royal Army Medical Corps worked side by side with the German staff. It is understood that Sheffield hospital left Maisieres at the beginning of September and wounded British prisoners of war were either sent to Germany or sent to hospital in Mons. 

Records show that several wounded men from 2nd Royal Irish Regiment were treated at Feldlazarrett Nr. 3 after 23 August, including Corporal Arnold Jones.

Arnold died of his wounds a week later, on 30 August. He was 25 years old.  Sixteen British soldiers, including Arnold, died of wounds at Feldlazarrett Nr. 3. Four of them from 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment, and were buried in Maisières Communal Cemetery. 

They are remembered by the people of Maisières  on a memorial erected at the entrance to the cemetery and dedicated in ‘Homage Aux Soldats Anglais Mort Pour La Belgique.’

Arnold is also named on the headstone at his father’s grave in Longton Cemetery. On 21 November 1914 Arnold’s death was announced in the Staffordshire Advertiser, which suggests that it was some weeks before his mother was able to be informed that he had died.

For his service to his country, Corporal Arnold Jones Earned the 1914 Star (also known as the Mons Star), the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. His accrued pay and £6 War Gratuity Payment were sent to his mother in due course. 

When the census was taken in 1921 Arnold’s mother was still living at 29 Alberta Street with two of her surviving sons. Arnold's brother Bernard survived the war, earning the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. His sister Ada died in service with the Red Cross and was recognised as a casualty of war in 2018.

In 1957, when the Belgian government was planning roadworks in the Maisières area, the bodies of all 16 British soldiers were reburied in concentration at Cement House Cemetery near Langemark, over 100km away, and the only ‘open’ cemetery which was able to accommodate the men. The German soldiers who had died at Feldlazarrett Nr 3 were reburied in a mass grave at Langemark German Military Cemetery.

St Martin’s Church at Maisières has a memorial plaque which commemorates the British soldiers originally buried in the churchyard, though incorrectly stating that they were moved to St Symphorien Military Cemetery.

The four men who died of wounds in the last week of August are Private Thomas Doyle (shown as Dogle), Corporal Arnold Jones, Private Michael Morrissey (shown as Morrissez), Private Alfred Shiel.