Arthur was born on 13 August 1921 in West Ham, Essex to Walter and Selina nee Abrahams and had three siblings Adolph, Marguerite and Dorothy. The family surname was originally Wolff and Arthur’s grandparents were born in Germany.

The oldest son Adolph qualified as a solicitor and also joined the RAF. After the war in 1945 he was a Wing Commander and was appointed as the Deputy Judge Advocate General, RAF in the Mediterranean and Middle East. Their father Walter owned many tailor shops working as the director.

Arthur was in Canada at 31 Services Training Flying School when he died. He was a pilot on Harvard AJ645 which was practising formation flying. The aircraft collided with Harvard AJ643 and he was killed. His fellow pilot F/L P Paterson was uninjured.

In the other aircraft pupil pilot Pupil Pilot, 90853, M. Beechcroft was killed and Pupil Pilot, 90727, M A. Vickers was slightly injured.

Arthur’s death record states that he died from compound fractures of his skull and multiple injuries to the rest of his body.