It Is Probable that His Record is Unique in the Annals of War Since
Spartan Days
Few men have the modest estimate of duty in relation to self that has
given an unsought celebrity to Arthur Ritchings of Cardiff, Wales.
If his conduct may be taken as evidence of his philosophy of life,
doing one’s duty in the world confers no particular distinction on
the individual—the discharge of a moral obligation establishing no
title to swank, swagger or puffed-upness. Possibly it is necessary to
be a Welshman to appreciate Ritchings’ mental attitude, for it seems
that the people of Cardiff saw nothing abnormal or eccentric in the
behavior of their townsman, regarding it quite as a matter of course.
Indeed it was a London paper that acquainted the Cardiffians that they
had in their midst a hero deserving of especial respect. We get the
particulars from the same source.
When Germany fell foul of Belgium, Arthur Ritchings was a member of the
Cardiff Constabulary, in plain terms, a policeman. As soon as England
declared war in 1914, Ritchings threw aside his truncheon, and other
police insignia, and enlisted in the Army as a private. He served
in that capacity for three years, doing the job with thoroughness,
having an eye single to duty. Though unobtrusive in all his doings,
not in the least inclined to celebrate in canticles of self-praise his
deeds in trench or field, he nevertheless came to the notice of his
superiors finally, and in November, 1917, his bravery won him promotion
on the field. He was made second lieutenant. But he went right ahead
in his normal way, yet, having once attracted their attention, he
could not keep out of the view of his superiors, and so in February,
1918, they called him up and gave him to understand that in their
opinion he measured up to a captaincy. But Ritchings just went right
on being Ritchings, and so they made him a major. Then they made him
a lieutenant colonel, and there is no conjecturing what they would
have had to do with him had the war continued a little longer. As it
was they made him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, pinned on his
breast the Croix de Guerre with palms, gave him the Military Cross, and
did what they could to persuade him that as he had been a gallant and
daring soldier so also had he been an able and decisive officer. In the
meantime the Germans had done what they could to further his interests
by wounding him on six different occasions.
Now, the war having been fought and won, his duty no longer commanding
the wear of khaki, Lieutenant Colonel Ritchings retired from the
Army and returned to his native Cardiff. His townsmen welcomed him,
congratulating him that he had managed to escape death for a further
enjoyment of the unemotional serenity of the sturdy Welsh town. The
Chairman of the Municipal Bench publicly declared that he was glad to
see Ritchings back, and spoke approvingly of the fact that his war
record was a credit to the town.