Arthur Osborne Ladell worked for the Great Eastern Railway (GER) and subsequently for the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) when the GER was absorbed into the LNER in 1921. He was recruited into the Great Eastern Railway in 1895 after enquiring to the Goods Managers Office. At this time he appears to have lived in Harold Wood, Essex. By 1909 Ladell appears to have been recruited at and/or receiving training in the Mineral Manager’s Office, Liverpool Street Station, London. He was in employment with the LNER in 1940 and received a certificate in anti-gas training in the same year.