Arthur Cyril Jervis, born on 16th April 1887, was admitted to King Edward’s School in January 1900, and was awarded a Foundation Scholarship in 1901, 1903 and 1905. His father was the Reverend Jervis and the family, including his mother, Wilhelmina Agnes Henrietta Ashdown Jervis, his sister, Marjorie, and his brothers, Bernard, John and Norman, lived on Ascott Road, Moseley. Arthur’s three brothers were also all Old Edwardians and all served during the war: John was killed serving with the Royal Fusiliers; Bernard served in Gallipoli and was held prisoner in Turkey, later winning the Military Cross; and Norman won the Military Cross while serving with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Another Old Edwardian, Frank Devis, was boarding with the Jervis family while he attended KES, and he was also killed serving with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
At School, Arthur was in the First Class with JRR Tolkien and was taught personally by Cary Gilson. He was also a Prefect, Sub-Librarian, a holder of full rugby colours, Rugby Secretary, and a member of the 1st XV. He was described as: “a fast wing, but a poor kicker, inclined to throw away opportunities with useless kicking into touch…tackles low and hard.” On two separate occasions, he was knocked semi-unconscious during games, but continued to play in a “dazed state.” He also won the Under 15 long jump in 1901 with a distance of 14 feet 1.4 inches, and set a record in 1905 for the Castle Bromwich cross-country course “in heavy and unpleasant weather.” In addition, Arthur was a strong swimmer, a Thespian (performing in Henry V and Julius Caesar), and a member of the Debating Society, “[giving] smart speeches, which mingled humour and invective.” On leaving School, he gained an Exhibition of £20 to Selwyn College, Cambridge, to study Classics, and thereafter became an assistant schoolmaster at Upcott School in Okehampton.
In 1914, Arthur enlisted as a Private Soldier in the 1st Birmingham Pals Battalion (14th Royal Warwickshire Regiment). In March 1915, he gained a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the 3rd King’s Liverpool Regiment. By December he had been made Acting Captain, and in August 1917, was sent to East Africa as a full Captain. He was killed on 3rd July 1918 in Mozambique, aged thirty-two, and is buried in Lumbo British Cemetery, Mozambique. The Reverend Jervis who had by then moved to Snitterfield, Stratford-Upon-Avon, requested Arthur’s medals in December 1920,