Arthur's Story.
EARLY LIFE
Arthur Leah was born in Macclesfield in 1884, the son of Phoebe (nee Hulme) and George Leah, a grocer. In 1891, six-year-old Arthur was living at 65 Beech Lane with his parents and siblings Annie (23), Harry (18) and Ada (8), and the family lived at the same address for at least the next twenty years.
Arthur was working as an auxiliary postman in 1901, and in 1911 he was a postman.
In 1912, Arthur married Louisa Eakin at the Congregational Chapel, Park Green, Macclesfield. Their daughter, Winifred, was born in 1914 and the family later lived at 96 Bank Street, Macclesfield.
WW1 SERVICE
Arthur enlisted in October 1916 and first served with the R.H. & R.F.A. (Royal Horse and Royal Field Artillery) with service number 181832 before being transferred to the Essex Regiment. He was drafted to Egypt in April 1917 and was reported missing by the Macclesfield Times on 11 January 1918:
MISSING - Mrs Leah, 96 Bank St, Macclesfield, has had official intimation that her husband, Pte Arthur Leah, Essex Regt, has been reported missing in Palestine. He is thirty-four years of age and was educated at Mill Street Wesleyan School... Pte Leah was formerly employed as a postman in Macclesfield and donned khaki in October 1916, being sent out to Egypt in April of the following year. Pte Leah was a regular attendant at Beech Lane Primitive Methodist Chapel.
On the same page of the newspaper is another report, starting:
The current issue of the Park Green Congregational Magazine, Macclesfield, has the following reference to local soldiers: - The most serious news this month is that Arthur Leah (in Palestine) is reported missing...
Private Leah was later assumed to have been killed in action in Egypt on or after 2 November 1917.
COMMEMORATION
Private Arthur Leah has no known grave and is commemorated on Panel Ref. 32 to 38. of the Jerusalem Memorial in Israel. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission holds casualty details for Private Arthur Leah, and he is listed on the Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War website.
In Macclesfield, Private Arthur Leah is commemorated on the Macclesfield Post Office war memorial and roll of honour, and the Park Green war memorial.
SOURCES
GRO (England & Wales) Index: Births, Marriages
Census (England & Wales): 1891, 1901, 1911
Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
Macclesfield Times: 11 January 1918
Research by Rosie Rowley, Congleton.