Year of birth: 1897

Place of birth: Ogbourne, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom

Profession: Carter

Country: England, United Kingdom

Force: British Expeditionary Force

Rank: Trooper

Service number: 2427

Enlistment place: Faringdon, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom

Units:  —  Household Bn.  (Last known unit)

Date of death: 12/10/1917

Place of death: Poelcapelle, Belgium

Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Age: 20

British War Medal Medal

Victory Medal Medal

On 12 October 1917 the Household Battalion (10th Brigade, 4th Division) took part in an attack with the 1st Battalion Royal Warwickshire to their right and 18th Division to their left. They suffered 50 casualties in the assembly lines due to heavy enemy shelling. During the attack the Household Battalion was unable to keep in touch with their left, because the 18th Division was held up. They could not go beyond their first objective and a defensive flank towards the village of Poelkapelle was formed. A German counter attack was easily repulsed and other companies came to reinforce the Household Battalion. William must have died during this attack or was one of the 50 casualties in the assembly lines. He was buried close to the frontline (U.19.b.5.9.) and was later reburied in Cement House Cemetery.

Household Battalion (The National Archives, KEW (TNA), WO 95/1481/1). http://www.nmarchive.com Sources used

McCarthy C., The Third Ypres Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account (London, Unicorn Publishing Group, 2018). Sources used

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/97365

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=39a682e5-184f-416a-9dbb-db8a441ea4fc

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/251020