John Arkle was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 28 July 1890 and was educated at St George's Private School at Gosforth. Subsequently he went to Edinburgh with a view to becoming an actuary, but after 12 months left Edinburgh to study medicine at Durham University. Arkle was a brilliant student and won numerous prizes including a gold medal. After graduation in 1913 he held house appointments in the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, and joined the RAMC in 1914. During the war he served for five years, first as a regimental medical officer with the Royal Scots in Flanders and later as a Major with the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station. He was appointed OBE in 1919 for his services in France and Flanders. On demobilisation he studied for a time at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, before going to Edinburgh to obtain his Fellowship in Ophthalmology. In 1920 he was appointed honorary assistant ophthalmic surgeon to the Royal Infirmary, Newcastle and eight years later became full surgeon and head of the department of ophthalmology, and lecturer in the same subject at Durham University. In 1949 he was elected FRCS *ad eundem*. In 1950 he relinquished the posts in Newcastle and Durham, but continued to serve the Hospital in Newcastle until his final retirement in 1955. Arkle was an ideal chief to his juniors and an excellent teacher. He was a regular attender at the Oxford Ophthalmological Congress, the Society of the United Kingdom, and the North of England Ophthalmological Society of which he was president in 1949. In 1916 he married Euphemia Banks Wade, who died in 1955. He died suddenly at his home on 19 November 1969 at the age of 79. He was survived by his son and daughter, both doctors, and six grandchildren.