Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore (1870–1955) - Welsh-born American artist

Arthur was born on 25th December 1870 in Bodalog, near Betws-y-Coed, Wales, the second son of Captain Francis Sandys Dugmore and his wife, Emily Evelyn, a daughter of William Brougham, 2nd Baron Brougham and Vaux.  His father served in The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada before his birth, and later in the 64th Regiment of Foot.  

Educated at Elizabeth College, Guernsey, and later in Kadıköy and Bournabat (in modern day Turkey), Arthur went on to study art at the Instituto di Belle Arti in Naples, Italy and went to America in 1889. In 1901 he married  Henrietta Louise Watkins, and the couple had three children.

Forty two years old when the First World War began, as a civilian photographer Arthur travelled to the Western Front and began recording with his cine camera, as the Belgian army attempted in vain to stem the advance of the German Army. 

Influential friends helped Arthur "to obtain a commission in an infantry regiment — the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry" -The 'Tykes'.   Arthur served in the trenches during the period leading up to the First Battle of the Somme but before the Battle he was gassed and unfit for duty. He wrote from the front lines during this period describing trench warfare, the Somme attack and its consequences and aftermath. 

Arthur recorded his WW1 eye-witness experiences in a book entitled “When the Somme Ran Red: The Experiences of an Officer of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry During the First World War.”

Arthur later created a number of paintings based on his recollections of experiences on the Somme.

Troops Going over the Top, First World War (Battle of the Somme)

                 Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore (1870–1955)       Painting from York Castle Museum