Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Morris Arden DSO
2nd Class Reserve Officers, 2nd Battalion Worcestershire Regiment attached No. 3 Cadet Wing Royal Air Force
Date of Birth: 2 February 1875
Place of Birth: Sudbury, Suffolk
Date of Death: 22 July 1918 aged 44
Buried: Died at Cairo, buried at the Alexandria (Hadra) War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt
Distinguished Service Order
Awarded the Distinguished Service Order, Mentioned in Dispatches, Order of Osmanieh, Sudan Medal with Clasp, 1914 Star, King's South Africa Medal and Clasps, British War Medal and Victory Medal
Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Morris Arden was born on 2 February 1875 in Sudbury, Suffolk.
He was the son of Mary Margaret Arden née Alexander (born c. 1844) and Rev. Albert Henry Arden (1841-1897).
John went to boarding school at Malvern College in Worcestershire.
| John and his siblings | |
| Edward Cooper Arden 1868–1941 |
Alice Maude Harriet Arden 1870–1945 |
| Albert Henry Arden 1872–1949 |
Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Morris Arden 1875-1918 |
Mentioned in Despatches (MID)
He joined the Worcester Regiment in 1897 aged 22. He fought in the South African War and retired in 1912.
John then lived at Sladnor Park, Stokeinteignhead, Devon with his brother Edward Arden until the outbreak of the Great War.
The Ardens are considered to be one of the three longest surviving families in England, John's grandfather held Longcroft Hall in Staffordshire, and his brother held Finchley Manor, Middlesex (Bibsworth House) until 1905.
Sladnor Park, Stokeinteignhead, home of the Arden family for many years.
Photo Maidencome Community Group
John was badly wounded in July 1915, and was awarded the D.S.O. for “conspicuous gallantry and ability" at the battle of Neuve Chapelle, March 12th, 1915.
'When the Battalion on his right was driven from their trenches, he formed his company under a heavy fire to a flank, counter-attacked the German right with great determination, and thereby enabled the battalion to reoccupy their trenches.'
Later he commanded a battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers, and was severely wounded in July 1916.
After his recovery, he held a Staff appointment as Commandant of a R.F.C. Cadet wing. Having been asked to undertake an important work of military organization in the Near East, he went to Egypt, and died in hospital, at Cairo, on July 23rd, 1918, a few days after his arrival.
He was buried at the Alexandria (Hadra) War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt.
Download commemorative certificate (PDF)
John's niece Lionetta Maud Owen Tucker née Arden was living at Sladnor Park during WW1, she served with the Voluntary Aid Detachment at Newton Abbot V.A. Hospital.
