Arthur Critchley enlisted into the Royal Armoured Corps and later volunteered for airborne forces during World War II.He attended Parachute Training Course 71, which ran at RAF Ringway from 5 to 17 July 1943, as part of a course cadre of 224 personnel.

On completing the course he was initially posted to the Holding Battalion and then sent as a reinforcement to the 3rd Parachute Battalion.

He jumped with the Battalion on Sunday 17 September 1944 as part of a divisional assault to capture the Rhine crossings at Arnhem during Operation Market Garden.

He was taken prisoner of war during the battle and held in captivity in Germany until the end of the war.