Military honours were accorded at the funeral, on Saturday, of Lieutenant Arthur Edwin Cartland, of the Royal Flying Corps, who was killed in a flying accident near Newcastle.
The deceased officer was a son of Mrs FA Cartland, of Wentworth House, Western-place, and although only twenty-one years of age, he had seen considerable active service in France, having joined the Flying Corps in July, 1913, or some thirteen months before the outbreak of the War.
He took up his Commission in September last, and was home on leave only three days before his death, in order to see his brother, who is in the Motor Transport Section of the Army Service Corps.
[Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 6th March 1918]
Arthur Edward Cartland was born in Winkfield, Berkshire, on the 12th January 1897. One of seven children, his parents were general labourer William Cartland and his wife, Ann.
When Arthur left school, he found work on a local farm, although from here on in, his trail becomes more of a challenge to decipher. While some of the information in the newspaper article is incorrect, he definitely joined the Royal Flying Corps on 17th July 1913. By this point, the family had moved to West Sussex.
When war broke out, the now Air Mechanic 1st Class Cartland was sent to France, although he did have two months out in 1915, due to an operation on a hernia. In May 1916, Arthur had been promoted to Sergeant, with his commission following eighteen months later.
In February 1918, Second Lieutenant Cartland was attached to the 75th Training Squadron at Cramlington Airfield, Northumberland. He was flying a de Havilland DH4 on the 25th February, when the accident that ended his life occurred. The Casualty Card noted that:
…the accident was due to 2L Cartland attempting to turn back to [the] aerodrome when only 50ft up. He stalled on [the] turn and nose dived into the ground. The adjustable tail plane control was right back in the landing position, this would tend to make the machine stall on a turn. As far as was possible to ascertain from the examination of the crash the controls were okay.
Arthur Edward Cartland was laid to rest in Broadwater Cemetery, to the north of Worthing town centre.
The brother Arthur had come home to visit – Stephen Cartland – had found work as a page when he completed his schooling. In December 1908 he enlisted in the Royal Navy, spending five years as an Officer’s Steward and Cook. When war broke our he joined the Army Service Corps.
Another brother, William, had also served in the First World War, rising to the rank of Corporal in the 1st Battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment. He was badly wounded at Ypres in the autumn of 1914, succumbing to his injuries on the 9th November. Also 21 years of age, Corporal Cartland was laid to rest in Poperinghe Old Military Cemetery.
Death and Service 