Royal Air Force
Born: 4th August 1921.
Story
Arthur was the son of Thomas Firth Bickerdike (1898-1963) and Louise Jubb (1897-1965), who married in Kippax on 7th June 1919. His father had been in the Royal Field Artillery in the First World War. Arthur was named after his paternal uncle (1892-1918) who passed away before Arthur was born. In 1925, Arthur’s parents moved to Blackpool, taking Thomas’s widowed mother Pauline Firth (1869-1941) with them. However, Arthur remained in Kippax with his maternal grandparents. In 1939 Arthur was still living with Fred and Emily Jubb (née Cockerham) at 4 Glencoe Terrace, Station Road. He was educated at Kippax Council School and Castleford Grammar School, and also worked as a Sunday School teacher. Before the war, he was employed as a clerk at the Yorkshire Copper Works. He took his flying instructions in Canada, and then used his teaching experience to get a commission in the RAF, and gave trainees instructions in the art of handling war planes.
After the War, Arthur married Margaret Hall in March 1945 in Kippax (see wedding article below). They moved to his in-laws at 66 Leadwell Lane, Normanton. Arthur passed away in 1982.
Kippax Roll of Honour 