Arthur Harrison Allard Vann (1 May 1884 – 25 September 1915) was a British Army officer killed in the First World War. He had been a professional football

outside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

who appeared in the Football League for Burton United.

Personal life

Vann was born on 1 May 1884 in

Bugbrooke Bugbrooke is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England, on a ridge overlooking the valley of the River Nene. Location Bugbrooke is situated about south west of Northampton and 5 miles (8 km) north of Towcester. The M1, one o ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. His parents, Alfred George Collins Vann and Hannah Elizabeth Vann were teachers and his younger brother was Bernard William Vann. He attended Chichele College,

Higham Ferrers Higham Ferrers is a market town and civil parish in the Nene Valley in North Northamptonshire, England, close to the Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire borders. It forms a single built-up area with Rushden to the south and has an estimated popula ...

, where his father was headmaster. Vann was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 5th Battalion, The

King's Own (Yorkshire Light Infantry) The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army. It officially existed from 1881 to 1968, but its predecessors go back to 1755. In 1968, the regiment was amalgamated with the Somerset and Cornwall ...

on 29 June 1908. This was a

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...

unit. He resigned his commission in August 1911. Both Vann and his brother

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "bra ...

attended

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

. Bernard matriculated in 1907 and Arthur in 1909, aged 25. He graduated in 1913. In the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Vann was again commissioned in the Army as a temporary

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 1 October 1914. He served in the 28th (County of London) Battalion of The London Regiment, (The Artists' Rifles) and the

West Yorkshire Regiment ) , march = ''Ça Ira'' , battles = Namur FontenoyFalkirk Culloden Brandywine , anniversaries = Imphal (22 June) The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) wa ...

during the first year of the war. He held the rank of captain and was adjutant of the 12th Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment when he was killed at the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...

on 25 September 1915. His body was not recovered and he is commemorated on the Loos Memorial. Bernard Vann also served, winning a VC and an MC and Bar, before being killed in action in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

on 3 October 1918.

References

1884 births Artists' Rifles officers Military personnel from Northamptonshire Sportspeople from Northamptonshire English men's footballers Northampton Town F.C. players Men's association football outside forwards English Football League players British Army personnel of World War I Burton United F.C. players British military personnel killed in World War I 1915 deaths West Yorkshire Regiment officers Southern Football League players Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge People from Bugbrooke King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry officers Footballers from Northamptonshire {{England-footy-forward-1880s-stub