This page is a dedication to two brothers who died in the trenches of the first world war during the year of 1916. Like many who died, they had no descendants and therefore it is likely that for the last 100 years, the stories of their bravery and sacrafice have been untold & forgotten about, until now.

Thomas Henry Hurst and Arthur A Hurst were both born in Golborne, Lancashire to Nathan Hurst (1860-1954) and Lizzie Braznell (1863-1941).

Thomas Hurst

Thomas was born in 1889 and at the age of 20 he signed up for the Territorial Army and joined the 5th battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1911 where he resided in Gisborne. In 1915 he enlisted in the 7th Reinforcements Wellington Regiment of the N.Z.E.F (New Zealand Expeditionary Force). On the 9th of October 1915, he joined 2,437 other men when he embarked one of three troop ships (the Aparima, the Navua and the Warrimoo) destined for Egypt.

He arrived in late November and spent the next couple of months training with British weapons as part of the ANZACs (Australia & New Zealand Army Corps). At 8am on the 25th January, Thomas was sent by train to the Suez Canal to assist in resisting a Turkish attack on the canal. He was stationed there until the 26th February when the battalion left its trenches and returned to Cairo for more training.

On the 7th April 1916, Thomas left Egypt as part of the 1st Batallion on the Arcadian troopship arriving in Marseille 5 days later. On the 12th May, his battalion joined the British sector on the front line in Estaires taking over from the 17th Division in Armentieres. He was then involved in heavy operations on the front line for the next 3 months. On the 16th July the battalion left Armentieres for Ebblinghem. By the 20th his Battalion had arrived in Airaines (30 miles west of Amiens) and remained there until the 2nd of September where they then left for Albert arriving on the 9th. On the 12th September his battalion began an intense shelling of the ememy lines which had increased to a constant bombardment by the 15th when, at 0620 they began to attack and advance on the Germans in a battle that lasted 18 days. Over the first 3 days, Thomas' battalion lost 292 members of it's 809-strong company in the fierce fighting, Thomas sadly being one of them.

He died on Monday the 18th of September, 1916 aged 27 years.

Arthur Hurst

Arthur was younger than Thomas. Born in 1891 he remained in Lancashire until he joined the Royal Garrison Artillery as a gunner and was placed with the 41st Siege Battery, which consisted of four, 6-inch Howitzer guns. After a period of training in both Portsmouth and Lydd between July and November, the battery sailed for France on the 9th December, 1915. These were the first 6" Howitzers to arrive in France. By the 24th, they had ammunitioned and set up position at Lameron Farm (Pont de Nieppe) with the guns facing North East over the Belgium border.

Only 26 days before his brother Thomas was to arrive in Armentieres, Arthur sadly died on Sunday the 16th of April, 1916 aged 25 years.

They would only have been 2 miles apart. Arthur's final resting place is Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension (Nord), Plot II D 185.