Arden Cotterell Coldicott, born on 28th February 1897, was admitted to King Edward’s School in September 1909, earning a Foundation Scholarship a year later. His father, Arthur, was an estate agent, and the family lived in Ullenhall, Henley-in-Arden. Arden’s mother, Annie, had six daughters and two sons, both of whom were old Edwardians and both of whom served in the war.
While at School, Arden excelled at sport: he played in the 1st XV (“A good three-quarter with a strong hand-off but very little pace. Falls on very pluckily”), and 1st XI in 1915, and was a regular competitor in the annual gymnastics competition. He was also a member of the School Officer Training Corps and the Debating Society.
Arden gained a commission straight out of School as a Second Lieutenant in the 3rd Royal Warwickshire Regiment in May 1915. He fought on the Somme, surviving Mametz Wood but sustaining a wound from a sniper two weeks later. After transferring to the 15th Battalion, Arden was wounded again in October 1916, winning the Military Cross “for conspicuous gallantry while leading a raiding party”. He then fought in the Battle of Passchendaele and at Piave in Italy in November 1917. After a promotion to Captain and another move back to France, Arden was wounded for a third time near Merville and was taken prisoner on 28th June 1918. He died of his wounds in hospital in Dortmund on 16th August 1918, aged twenty-one. He is buried in Cologne Southern Military Cemetery, Germany.