arthur john malandain + constance thelma ferrar
Arthur was born on 6 July 1899 at 5 Colyton Road in Peckham, south east London and he was the first of eight children born to John William Malandain and Evelyn Mary Ann Chapman.
c. 1930
When he was just fifteen years old, Arthur lied about his age and enlisted in the territorial army at Ravenscourt Park in west London. The minimum age for enlistment was 18 years but surprisingly Arthur claimed to be 21 and he was accepted, apparently without question, and posted to the Middlesex Regiment in Gorleston-on-sea in Suffolk on 10 November 1914. But his parents did not approve of his decision and applied to his commanding officer to release him from his obligations on the grounds that he was under age. When the regiment received a copy of his birth certificate, he was discharged on 12 February 1916 as a result of ‘having made a misstatement as to age on enlistment’.
Arthur returned to Peckham and worked as a Clerk for Messrs Champion & Sons on Scylla Road and later as a Motor Driver but shortly after his eighteenth birthday, he reinlisted in the army and was assigned to the 7th Gordon Highlanders. On 29 August 1917, he joined his battalion in Chiseldon, south of Swindon, for training before travelling to France.
On 4 October 1918, Arthur was taking part in a practice exercise when he was accidently shot in the leg by a fellow soldier. He was standing in a trench with several other soldiers from his battalion waiting for the drill to start and another soldier, Pte William Roy, was ‘snapping’ his revolver open and closed when it discharged and the live round struck Arthur in the left leg just above the ankle.
Arthur was taken from the trench by stretcher bearers to a military hospital near Rouen where he was treated for the gun shot wound and the resulting fracture to his fibula. On 18 October, he was evacuated from France and transferred to the War Hospital in Edinburgh where he remained for the next year. The bullet damaged both muscle and nerves in his lower leg and he developed ulcers on his heel and toes that would not heal. When gangrene set in, the doctors had no choice but to amputate his left leg 6 3/4" below his knee.
Pte Roy was initially held responsible for the incident and may have faced charges had he not been transferred to another battalion and subsequently wounded and evacuated to England on 5 December 1918. Once the army conducted a full investigation the blame was shifted to the platoon commander who was alleged to have carlessly inspected the arms and allowing a live round in a training exercise.
After 16 months in Edinburgh, Arthur was transferred to a hospital closer to home, Queen Mary's Convalescent Home in Roehampton, on 27 February 1920 where he had a prosthetic limb fitted. He was finally released from hospital on 10 April and discharged from the army five days later.
In the summer of 1926, Arthur married Constance Thelma Ferrar in Lewisham. Constance was born in Dulwich on 20 April 1906 to Alfred Ferrar and Florence Young. Her father was a Draper's Clerk and she had one older sister, Eileen Maud Florence, and one younger brother, William Henry. Arthur and Connie had two children, Ronald Arthur was born in Camberwell in the spring of 1928 and their daughter was born five years later.
After his discharge from the army, Arthur continued to work as a Clerk and he later obtained a job in the Civil Service. On 6 November 1928, he was promoted from the unpensionable permanent class to a position in the Clerical Class in the Land Registry Office and he continued to work in this department until his retirement.
The young family settled in a house at 25 De Crespigny Park in the Denmark Hill area of Camberwell but by 1939, they had moved further south to 59 Broomfield Road in Beckenham, Kent. Arthur and Connie raised their family on Broomfield Road and remained in the house until Arthur's death in 1983.
In 1951, their son Ronald married Evelyn Milicint Upston, his first cousin, in Brighton. Evelyn was the daughter of Milicent Annie Malandain, Arthur's younger sister, and Henry George Morrill Upston. Ronald and Evelyn had three children and lived in Brighton for many years.
Arthur John died at the family home in Beckenham in July 1983 and Connie died on 28 May 1995; at the time of her death, she was still living in the family home on Broomfield Road in Beckenham and she left an estate valued at £123 000.