EWIN, Arthur (of Newark)
Lieutenant 9th Bn. Sherwood Foresters
By Christine Ditcham
Died 7th August 1915 at Gallipoli
Remembered at
HELLES MEMORIAL, Turkey.
Arthur Ewin was born in London in 1872. As a child he moved with his mother to Tibshelf in Derbyshire. As an adult he became a collier and was also a member of the Militia, the 5th Bn. Derby Regiment.
On 1st July 1890 he enlisted in the regular army joining the 1st Bn. Sherwood Foresters. In 1896 he was despatched to Matabeleland, as a Section Sergeant on the Mounted Infantry. The conclusion of army manoeuvres was August 1896 and Arthur Ewin was sent to Curragh Camp, Ireland.
On 18th January 1898 Arthur Ewin married Helen Tomlinson at the parish church in Tibshelf. The couple had quarters in the Curragh Camp. Later in 1898 the battalion was moved to Fort St Elmo in Malta. His wife accompanied him and in October their first child was born.
In 1899 Arthur Ewin was sent to South Africa to serve in the Boer War. Here he was mentioned in despatches and awarded the DCM. Owing to having been dangerously wounded in action and having contacted pneumonia while suffering from the effect of the wound he was invalided home in October 1901. Being in a weakened state he had to accept a position on the permanent staff of the Militia. He was sent to Newark to join the 4th Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters.
The Militia was a fore-runner of the Territorial Army. Members had to give three months regular training service each year. In 1907 he was commissioned. At the outbreak of the war in 1914 the 4th Battalion was moved to Newcastle to a ‘holding unit’. Arthur Ewin was transferred to the 9th Battalion owing to the indisposition of the quarter master and in July left for the Dardanelles. He was killed on 7th August 1915 at Suvla Bay