b. 29/06/1884 Birkenhead, Cheshire. d. 4th Q 1951 Barnsley, Yorkshire.
DATE OF EM ACTION: 10/10/1922 Barnsley Main Colliery, Barnsley, Yorkshire.
Arthur was the sixth of seven children born to William and Ann Hatcher (nee Hawcroft) on 29th June 1884 in Birkenhead, Cheshire. Before Arthur had reached the age of 4, the Hatcher family had moved across the Pennines and settled in Dodworth, Yorkshire. By the age of 16, Arthur was working at the Barnsley Main Colliery as a coal miner and hewer, which would be his lifelong career. In 1908, he married Emma Clowery in Barnsley and they would have two daughters, Hilda (born 1908) and Eva (born 1910). Following the award of the Edward Medal, he remained working at the pit and worked well into his 50s. He died in 1951 in Barnsley aged 67.
EM CITATION:
On 10th October, 1922, in the course of operations at the Barnsley Main Colliery, one of the workmen named Burton was seized with an epileptic fit while guiding a tub down an inclined road: he was found insensible by Hatcher and two or three other men, who proceeded to carry him down the road towards the exit. Meanwhile, owing to Burton’s absence, a tub which had been left at the top began to move and ran down the road towards the men. Hatcher heard it coming, and, realising that the lives of the other men were in danger, as there was no siding in which they could seek safety, he moved up the track to attempt to stop it. He actually threw himself down in front of the tub and brought it to a standstill. He was very severely injured about the spine and legs, and, indeed, has not been able to work since. Hatcher certainly risked his life in his attempt to stop the tub, and his action was a very brave one.
BURIAL LOCATION: UNKNOWN.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: FAMILY.
