BORN DRIFFIELD 1892. SON OF JOHN & MARY, OF 2 SELINA CRESCENT, ROSMEAD STREET, NEW BRIDGE ROAD, HULL. EMPLOYED AS A CHAINER AND ROPER BY THE HULL & BARNSLEY RAILWAYS, ALEXANDRA DOCKS, HULL. HE ENLISTED IN THE HULL PALS. SERVED IN EGYPT AND FRANCE. WAS KILLED IN ACTION, ON 04/09/1918, AGED 25. HE HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN WOUNDED FOUR TIMES AND HIS LAST LEAVE HOME WAS IN JANUARY 1918. HIS DEATH WAS REPORTED IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL, ON 25/09/1918. *
Hull Pals Memorial Post. SERGEANT GEORGE ARNELL 12/574. Born in Driffield in 1892, George was the eldest of seven children to John and Mary Ann Arnell of 2 Selinas Crescent, Rosemead Street, Hull. A Labourer before the war, he joined the long uneven lines queuing at Hull City Hall to join the new Pals Battalions. Standing at 5ft 6″ and weighing 140lbs, George was passed fit for service on 25th September 1914 and joined the 12th Battalion. He must have proved himself a capable man for he made Lance Corporal soon after and Corporal by the time the Battalion arrived in France in March 1916. When manpower grew too scarce to maintain four full-strength fighting units, the 12th and 13th Battalions were disbanded and merged with the 10th and 11th. George joined the ranks of the 10th in February 1918 and soon became a Sergeant. Had George Arnell been attached to the 11th instead, he would not have been in the trenches outside of Nieppe, and he would not have been given orders to lead his men across a flat field exposed to the raking fire of German machine guns. Had that simple twist of fate not occurred then perhaps he would have survived the war. As it was, George Arnell was killed in action on 4th September 1918 and his body was never recovered. His name is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial to those who died in the fighting in that sector but who have no known grave. All 11,000 of them. George Arnell was 25 years old.
