Arthur Spurling
| Arthur Rowe Spurling | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 May 1896 Bermuda |
| Died | 1984 Guernsey |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom (Bermuda) |
| Service/branch | Aviation |
| Years of service | 1915-1919 1939-1945 |
| Rank | Squadron Leader |
| Unit | |
| Awards | Distinguished Flying Cross |
Squadron Leader Arthur Rowe Spurling was a Bermudian who served during the First World War as an infantryman and an aviator, becoming an ace credited with six aerial victories, and as a ferry pilot during the Second World War.
Rowe Spurling was born into a prominent Bermudian family in Hamilton, in the British colony of Bermuda, on 19 May 1896.
When the UK declared war on the Central Powers in August 1914, the part-time volunteer army units in Bermuda, the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps (BVRC) and the Bermuda Militia Artillery (BMA), were mobilised. Although required to fulfil their roles as parts of the Bermuda Garrison, both units immediately proposed sending drafts to the Western Front. The BVRC quickly formed a detachment in December 1914, which was to train in Bermuda over the winter before being dispatched across the Atlantic. This contingent was composed of volunteers who were already serving, as well as those who enlisted specifically for the Front. Spurling volunteered for the contingent in February 1915. The Contingent trained at Warwick Camp through the winter and spring. It consisted of Captain Richard Tucker and eighty-eight other ranks.
The Contingent left Bermuda for England on 7 May 1915, travelling to Canada, then crossing the Atlantic in company with a much larger Canadian draft. It had been hoped that the Contingent could be attached to the Second Battalion of The Lincolnshire Regiment (2 Lincolns), which had been on Garrison in Bermuda when the War began. When the Contingent arrived at the Lincolns depot in Grimsby, the 2nd Battalion was already in France and it was attached to 1 Lincolns, instead. Captain Tucker carried written instructions from the War Office that ensured that they remained together as a unit, under their own badge. Despite this, the riflemen were given regimental numbers by the Lincolns, Spurling's being 3/17150 (his old BVRC number was 989).
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