Pte 17431 William Meeson

• Age: 30
• From: Exeter, Devon
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 19th Btn
• K.I.A Sunday 30th July 1916
• Commemorated at: Guillemont Rd Cem
  Panel Ref: V.D.8

William Meeson was born in 1886 in Exeter and was the second son of Richard  Meeson and his wife Annie Blake (née Hatcher). His parents were married in Taunton, Somerset, in 1882 and had eight children.  Their first child, John, was born in Leicester, after which the family moved to Exeter, where Mary, William, Ruth, Richard, Edward and Dennis were born. They spent some time in Bristol, where Leonard was born in 1898.

At the time of the 1891 census the family live at 27 Powderham Crescent, Exeter, where his father is a minister of gospel.  They have five children and two domestic servants.  William is 4 years old.

The 1901 census finds them at 48 Hampton Road, Bristol, with all eight children, a cook and a housemaid. His father, 55, is now living on his own means, his mother is 42.  John, 17, is a student, the other children are at school, except 3-year old Leonard;  William is 14.

At some point the family returned to Exeter.

The 1911 Census shows the family living at 46 Prospect Park Exeter. His father Richard  who is aged 65 was born in 1846 in Stafford St. Mary's is a gospel preacher, whilst his mother Annie is aged 52 having been born in 1859 in Taunton St Mary's, Somerset. They have been married for twenty nine years and have eight children. The children still living at home are listed as; William aged 24, is an Ocean Insurance inspector, Ruth aged 22, born 1889 and Dennis aged 17, born 1894 is at school, they were all born in St James Exeter. Leonard aged 13, born 1898 is at school and was born in St Michaels, Bristol. 

Not long after the census, in May 1912, Dennis, 17, occupation engineer, emigrated to Canada, destination Winnipeg, Manitoba.

His father died later in 1912, aged 66.

It appears that William moved to Liverpool for work. The Ocean Accident Insurance Company had offices in many cities as well as overseas. 

William enlisted on the 14th September, 1914 in Liverpool joining the 19th Battalion as Private 17431. He was aged 28 years and 103 days, and gave his occupation as a insurance inspector. He was described as being five feet six and half inches tall, weighed 128lbs,  is of fresh complexion with brown eyes and hair and he gave his religion as Church of England. He gave his mother as next of kin at 63 Tiverton Road, and states that he has resided out of the family home for at least three years. 

Formed on 07^th September 1914 the 19^th Battalion trained locally at Sefton Park and remained living at home or in rented accommodation until November 1914. They then moved to the hutted accommodation at Lord Derby’s estate at Knowsley Hall. On 30th April 1915 the 19th Battalion alongside the other three Pals battalions left Liverpool via Prescot Station for further training at Belton Park, Grantham. They remained here until September 1915 when they reached Larkhill Camp on Salisbury Plain. 

26.04.15: At Knowsley absent from duty without leave he was admonished for this offence 27.04.15.

07.11.15 Arrived in France 

28.03.16: Sick to 97th Field Ambulance. Admitted with Influenza.

04.04.16: Discharged to duty with unit.

07.06.16: Granted leave to UK to 16.06.16.

16.07.16: Absent from camp 8.30pm to 9.50am. Forfeits seven days pay. 

William was killed in action on the 30^th July 1916, aged 30, at the village of Guillemont, France, during the Somme Offensive.

19^th Battalion Diary 30^th July 1916

MALTZ HORN FARM

BATTLE begun. ZERO hour 4:45 am. The Battalion reached its objective, but suffered heavy losses, and had to evacuate its position owing to no reinforcements.

Everard Wyrall gives details of the attack in his book The History of The King’s Regiment; 

"The 2nd Attack on Guillemont- 29th July 1916 the 89th Brigade the 20th King's were to attack on the right and the 19th on the left. During the evening of the 29th the night was dark and foggy when the Battalions moved off and the 19th with Lt Col G Rollo commanding, when passing the South east of the Briqueterie they were heavily shelled first with H E and then with a new kind of asphyxiating Gas shell which had curious results, at first it had no nasty effect but about 8 hrs later men began to fall sick with violent headaches and pains in the stomach. All ranks had to wear gas masks which in the darkness and mist made the going terribly difficult. It was indeed wonderful that they were able to reach their Assembly point at all. But they did and by 2.45 a.m. on the 30th July 1916 the Btn was assembled having suffered about 30 Casualties on the way up ready for the Zero hour at 4.45 a.m.

It is known that the two left Companies of the 19th under Capt. Dodd and Capt. Nicholson advanced in touch with the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers on their left although they suffered many casualties from Machine gun Fire did not encounter many Germans and reached their final objective about the time allocated, beginning at once to dig in south of the orchard on the South east corner of Guillemont.  

On the left of the 19th the Scots Fusiliers most gallantly forced their way through Guillemont to the eastern side of the village but were soon overwhelmed by the enemy and few returned. 

At 8 a.m. finding that the village was not held the two left Companies of the 19th received no word from the rear or either flank believed themselves to be totally isolated so were forced to fall back and dig in, their position being untenable.

At midday the effective fighting strength of the 19th Btn was just 7 Officers and 43 other ranks" 

When darkness fell on the battlefield the 30^th Division held a line from the railway on the eastern side of Trones Wood , southwards and including Arrow Head Copse, to east of Maltz Horn Farm. On this line the division was relieved by the 55^th Division during the early hours of the 31^st July.

Casualties in the 19^th Battalion were 11 Officers and 435 Other Ranks 

The events of 30^th July 1916 were regarded at the time as Liverpool’s blackest day. There follows an extract from The History of the 89^th Brigade written by Brigadier General Ferdinand Stanley which gives an indication of the events of the day.

Guillemont

Well the hour to advance came, and of all bad luck in the world it was a thick fog; so thick that you couldn’t see more than about ten yards. It was next to impossible to delay the attack – it was much too big an operation- so forward they had to go. It will give some idea when I say that on one flank we had to go 1,750 yards over big rolling country. Everyone knows what it is like to cross enclosed country which you know really well in a fog and how easy it is to lose your way. Therefore, imagine these rolling hills, with no landmarks and absolutely unknown to anyone. Is it surprising that people lost their way and lost touch with those next to them? As a matter of fact, it was wonderful the way in which many men found their way right to the place we wanted to get to. But as a connected attack it was impossible.

The fog was intense it was practically impossible to keep direction and parties got split up. Owing to the heavy shelling all the Bosches had left their main trenches and were lying out in the open with snipers and machine guns in shell holes, so of course our fellows were the most easy prey.

It is so awfully sad now going about and finding so many splendid fellows gone.    

William was buried close to where he fell and his grave marked by a cross.  After the war, when graves were concentrated, his body was removed and reinterred.

He now rests at  Guillemont Road, Cemetery, France, where his headstone bears the inscription: 

St Luke 23. V. 43 

The inscriptions on headstones were limited in scope to 66 characters. William came from a religious background with his father being a Gospel preacher. The family would have wished to make a statement in keeping with their beliefs:

Luke 23 Verse 43:

Jesus answered him, "Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise"

This is a reference to the promise that Christ made to the thief who was being crucified alongside him on Good Friday.  

Guillemont was an important point in the German defences at the beginning of the Battle of the Somme in July 1916. It was taken by the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers on 30 July but the battalion was obliged to fall back, and it was again entered for a short time by the 55th (West Lancashire) Division on 8 August. On 18 August, the village was reached by the 2nd Division, and on 3 September (in the Battle of Guillemont) it was captured and cleared by the 20th (Light) and part of the 16th (Irish) Divisions. It was lost in March 1918 during the German advance, but retaken on 29 August by the 18th and 38th (Welsh) Divisions.

The cemetery was begun by fighting units (mainly of the Guards Division) and field ambulances after the Battle of Guillemont, and was closed in March 1917, when it contained 121 burials. It was greatly increased after the Armistice when graves (almost all of July-September 1916) were brought in from the battlefields immediately surrounding the village and certain smaller cemeteries, including:-

HARDECOURT FRENCH MILITARY CEMETERY. The village of Hardecourt-au-Bois was captured by French troops on the 8th July 1916, and again by the 58th (London) and 12th (Eastern) Divisions on 28 August 1918. Five British Artillerymen were buried by their unit in the French Military Cemetery, in the middle of the village, in September 1916; and in 1918 the 12th Division buried in the same cemetery 14 men of the 9th Royal Fusiliers and two of the 7th Royal Sussex.

Guillemont Road Cemetery now contains 2,263 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 1,523 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to eight casualties known or believed to be buried among them.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.

His death was reported in the Western Times on 28th August 1916:

“Killed in action on the 30th July, Pte. W. Meeson, second son of the late Richard Meeson and of Mrs. Meeson, of 63 Tiverton Road, Exeter, aged 30.”

William earned his three medals, which his mother signed for.  His British War Medal and Victory Medal were returned for adjustment.

His Army pay and a War Gratuity of £8-10 went to his mother Annie. No pension card has been found, indicating that William lived independently before enlisting. 

He was remembered by his sister on the second anniversary of his death:

"In loving and honoured memory of my brother, William Meeson, 19th K.L.R., who fell in action at Guillemont, July 30, 1916. - St. Martin's Lodge, Salisbury Avenue, Harpenden, Herts."

William is also remembered on the Ocean Accident War Memorial, now part of the Aviva group. 

William's loss was not the only tragedy to befall the family. His brother younger brother, Dennis, enlisted on 28th October 1915 at Camp Hughes, Manitoba, and served in France with the Royal Canadian Regiment. He was declared missing in action on 08th October 1916, just weeks after William’s death. In June 1917 his death was presumed to have occurred on that date. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial, France. Dennis was 22 years old.

His mother died in 1932 aged 74.

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