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 The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Burton United Burton United Football Club was a football club based in Burton upon Trent in England. The club was established in 1901 by a merger of Burton Swifts and Burton Wanderers, and played their last competitive season in 1910. In 1924 they merged with ...

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 Lieutenant Colonel Bernard William Vann, (9 July 1887 – 3 October 1918) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Comm ...

. 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 popu ...

, where his father was headmaster. Vann was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

in the

5th Battalion Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash th ...

, 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 i ...

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'' "brav ...

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 f ...

. 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 fig ...

, 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 The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. In 1958 it amalgamated with the East Yorkshire Regiment (15th Foot) to form the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire which was, on ...

during the first year of the war. He held the rank of captain and was

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

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 The Loos Memorial is a World War I memorial forming the sides and rear of Dud Corner Cemetery, located near the commune of Loos-en-Gohelle, in the Pas-de-Calais département of France. The memorial lists 20,610 names of British and Commonwealth s ...

. 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 ar ...

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