Aircraftman Second Class Arthur Leonard Moore

AC2 Arthur Leonard Moore was injured as a result of enemy action at RAF Kenley on 18th August, 1940, “The Hardest Day”.

He was taken to Purley First Aid Post and then admitted to Purley and District War Memorial Hospital in a dangerous condition with injuries to his right eye and a fractured tibia. Arthur was transferred to Horton Emergency Hospital (Military section), on 25/9/1940 and lost his life on 21/10/1940, with members of his family at his bedside.

AC2 Arthur Moore was born in Camden, London on 10th December, 1917 and baptised at St. Barnabas, Kentish Town, on 10th February, 1918. He was the son of Len (a panel beater by trade)  and Ada Elizabeth Moore (nee Broadhurst) of Highbury, London.

This memoir from Malcolm Stokes (see link below) relates to AC2 Moore’s young sister, Elsie…

“I was evacuated from Highbury, London, with my school in September 1939. A year later a fellow evacuee, Elsie Moore, was crying behind a door where we were billeted in St ives, Huntingdonshire. She was about 13 years old and often had to look after us younger ones. I called her a cry baby. Then I was told her brother had died as a result of wounds from machine gun fire when running for a shelter at RAF Kenley. My father took photos of us as evacuees earlier in 1940. They include Elsie and me, Malcolm Stokes. Elsie and her mother attended Remembrance Day services at our local church in Highbury for many years. They lived opposite our school, St John’s Highbury Vale after a landmine had destroyed their previous home. As a result of her brother’s death, her elder sister joined the WAAF as a Fighter Plotter, which I also eventually became during National Service 1952-54 at RAF Box, headquarters of Fighter Command Southern Sector.”

Rest in peace Sir and thank you for your service.