Pte 51961 William Barnes

• Age: 21
• From: Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• K.I.A Thursday 12th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Warlencourt Brit Cem
  Panel Ref: V.J.20

William Barnes was born on 26th August 1895 in Liverpool the son of Samuel Barnes and his wife Elizabeth (nee Marsham) who were married in 1880 in Yarmouth. He was baptised at St Francis de Sales Church on 28th September 1895.

The 1901 Census shows the family are living at 67 Neston Street, Walton, Liverpool. William is 5 years of age and is living with his mother and seven siblings. His mother is head of the household, she is 39 years of age and was born in Middlesex. His  five eldest siblings were born in Great Yarmouth and are listed as; Joseph an 18 year old plumbers labourer born in 1883, Harry a 17 year old sailor born in 1884, Annie who is 14 years old, Rose is 13 years old and 11 year old Nellie. His other siblings were born in Liverpool and are listed as; Mary aged 9 and Ada aged 6.

His  mother died aged 44 in 1907. 

By 1911 the family are living at 29 Emery Street, Walton. William is now 15 years of age and a shop boy for a greengrocer. He lives with his widowed father and three sisters. His father is a 50 year old fisherman born in Great Yarmouth. William's sisters at home are: Nellie now a 21 year old machinist (shirts), Mary an 18 year old printer's feeder and  Ada a 16 year old rubber shoe maker.     

William married Alice Parkinson in the March quarter of 1916 and a son William, born the same year in Birkenhead. 

He enlisted in Liverpool initially joining the 6th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment. After a transfer he was was serving in the 17th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 51961 when he was killed in action on the 12th October 1916 aged 21 during the Battle of the Transloy Ridges which was part of the ongoing Somme Offensive.

17^th Bn War Diary:  Battle of Transloy Ridge –                                               

11-10-16 - Gird Trench/Gird Support – Battalion in front line and support trenches. British bombardment of enemy front line system commenced about midday.  Hostile shelling was intermittent throughout the day.

12-10-16  - Our bombardment continued. Enemy reply weak.  2.5 p.m. Zero hour. Attack on German front line system commenced.  Enemy wire was found to be uncut and attack was unsuccessful.  Hostile machine gun fire was very heavy and caused many casualties. Battalion H.Q. and Support Trench were heavily shelled throughout afternoon and evening. […] During this action all communication had to be carried out by runners and carrier pigeons as all wires were being continually cut by enemy shelling.

Casualties: 5 officers killed,  5 officers wounded, 38 OR killed, about 225 OR wounded/missing etc.

Graham Maddocks, in “Liverpool Pals” p.140, adds:

“As the whistle blew, the 17^th Battalion left its trenches to move forward.  […]  As soon as the attacking waves left their trenches the enemy artillery began to register on them, and at the same time, the defending infantry commenced a murderous rain of fire.  […]  Although their numbers had been depleted by the British bombardment, they were trained and experienced soldiers, well dug in on high ground, and for the most part, looking out on uncut wire.  As such, it was virtually impossible for them to miss the City Battalion men struggling to advance in the mud towards them.   The 17^th Battalion, on the left, was particularly badly hit, as its portion of No Man’s Land contained a slight rise in the ground, and as the troops emerged onto it they were silhouetted against the sky and became easy targets.  Those on the left of the attack, who managed to avoid the hail of bullets and make it to the German wire, then found that it was totally uncut, and thus trapped, they too became easy targets, to be picked off almost at the enemy’s will.  It was hardly surprising that, seeing the first waves being wiped out, some of the following waves turned back and made for their start lines. These lines were now packed with other waves of troops, however, and the fleeing men added to the congestion already there, and became easy prey for the German gunners.  There is some evidence also, to suggest that at this stage, the British trenches were also being hit by their own heavy artillery shells which were falling short.” 

William now rests at Warlencourt British Cemetery, France where his headstone bears the epitaph:

“HE GAVE HIS LIFE, A SACRIFICE GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN”

Warlencourt Cemetery is entirely a concentration cemetery, begun late in 1919 when graves were brought in from small cemeteries and the battlefields of Warlencourt and Le Sars.  The Graves Registration form shows graves from “Le Sars 6/1, 6/2, Hexham Road, Seven Elms”.

Graves were brought in from the original cemeteries at Hexham Road (Le Sars), and Seven Elms (Flers), as well as over 3,000 British graves due to the fighting which took place around the Butte de Warlencourt from the autumn of 1916 to the spring of 1917, and again in the German advance and retreat of 1918.   The cemetery now contains 3,505 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War, 1,823 of which are unidentified.

Reported killed in the Liverpool Daily Post 16^th Nov 1916. 

King’s (Liverpool Regiment) - Barnes, 51961, W. ; 

Soldier Effects to widow Alice, Pensions to Alice Eaton and child William.  

Alice remarried in 1921 to Albert H. Eaton at St. Athanasius, Kirkdale. 

Father died aged 72 in 1933.

Alice, dob , 24^th April 1889, appears on the 1939 register at 26 September Rd with Albert and son William Barnes, and daughters Alice A. (b.1922) and Glwdys (b.1923). She died aged 81 in 1970 

We currently have no further information on William Barnes, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.