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from Manchester
Evening News Thursday 19 October 2000
Last Salute to
Arnold, 102, hero who braved hell
BY JOHN PRINCE
 TOP
Army officers will join relatives and old pals tomorrow in a last salute to
Arnold Howe who volunteered’ as a boy to serve in the hell of the First
World War and who has died at the age of 102.
The remarkable old
soldier, who lived In Disley, died in
hospital and will be buried at his village church, with the Union Jack
draping his coffin and buglers playing a final farewell.
He had cheated about his age to
join the Sherwood Foresters at 16 and didn’t even tell his parents. That
was 86 years ago as the adventurous kid signed up at Buxton and was shipped
out to the battlefields of France and Belgium.
There he braved enemy fire in No
Man’s Land, saw his comrades gunned down, and survived a deadly mustard
gas attack which for a time left him blind.
In the front-line trenches at
Ypres he served as a messenger, shuttling between the muddy dugouts.
Blinded by the gas, he was sent
back to Britain to a military hospital, then asked to be returned to his
comrades at war.
The war ended and the young Birch
Vale man returned to his then home in Whaley Bridge.
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Arnold aged 16
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He was one of few survivors among
the old soldiers who served throughout the Great War and even served in the
Home Guard at Whaley Bridge during the Second World War. Two years ago he
was honoured by France
in a ceremony at the Imperial War Museum.
The man who lived during three
centuries was a popular character in Disley, where he lived with his
daughter, Vera.
He also worked for charities -
and was a sidesman at his local St Mary’s church.
He was a member of the
Royal British Legion for
78 years and was invited
to garden parties at
Buckingham Palace. Mr Howe said:
"We must never
forget the lads who gave their lives.
"There were
terrible moments, but the war had to be won."
Daughter Vera
Howe-Byatte said: "Dad was a well-respected man and we were all very
proud of him."
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