Pte 32713 William Joseph Blayney

• Age: 25
• From: Weston Rhyn, Salop
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• K.I.A Wednesday 18th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Thiepval Memorial
  Panel Ref: P&F1D8B &8 C.

William Joseph Blayney was born in the second quarter of 1891 in Weston Rhyn, Salop, the youngest son of the son of John Blayney and his wife Margaret (née Pryce or Price) who were married in 1871, the marriage was registered in Llanfyllin.

William was baptised on the 05th July 1891 the family residence is listed as The Lodge parish (which includes Weston Rhyn), his father’s occupation gardener. His parents were born in Guilsfield, Montgomeryshire (sometimes shown as Welshpool on censuses). The surname is spelt variously on records as Blaney, Blainey, etc.

His mother appears to have had a daughter before her marriage, Sarah J., born in 1868. His parents had four children, all boys. William’s older brothers were John, born in 1872, David, 1881, and Edward Richard(s), 1886, all born and baptised in Guilsfield, their parents’ residence given as Broniarth.

On the 1881 census the Blainey family are living at Pentrelisydd?, Guilsfield. Father john is aged 29, a labourer born Guilsfield, mother Margaret is 34 born Welshpool, children Sarah J. aged 12 born Llanfyllin, and John aged 9 born Guilsfield. John was baptised as Blainey on the 21st January 1872. 

At the time of the 1891 census, shortly before William’s birth, his parents are living in The Lodge parish, Oswestry, 18 miles north of Guilsfield, with David 9, and Edward 4. His father, 38 is a general labourer, and his mother is 43.

His mother, Margaret, died in 1899 aged 53. 

The 1901 Census shows the family living at Tynyrhos Cottages, Quinter, Weston Rhyn, Oswestry. His father, John, is a widower aged 48, who was born in 1853 in Montgomeryshire, Wales and is a general agricultural labourer. He is living with William Joseph who is aged 9, and is a scholar. They also have a housekeeper named Eliza Holmes who is aged 61, born in 1840.

By 1911 William has moved to Southport, north of Liverpool, boarding with widow Esther Ball at 101 Sussex Road. He is 19, and employed as a grocer’s assistant.

His father, 58, is living alone at Tynyrhos Cottage, working at home as a labourer (wood work). He provides the information that he was married 40 years ago, and has four children, all still alive.

William Joseph enlisted in Liverpool and was serving in the 18th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 32713 when he was killed in action on the 18th October 1916, aged 25, during the Battle of the Transloy Ridges which was part of the ongoing Somme Offensive. 

18^th Bn Diary

18^th October 1916

Attacked German trenches commencing 3.40 am. Relieved by 19^th Manchester Regt. Took up position in support Bn trenches W. of Goose Alley.

Graham Maddocks in his book Liverpool Pals gives an overview of the events of the day:

“At 3.40 am the whistles blew, and the Battalion left its assembly trenches, in three waves, approximately fifty yards apart, and began to cross No Man’s Land. Almost immediately, the German Barrage fell on the first wave and halted its advance, so that the second wave soon caught up with it. This was not a great problem at first, and the two combined waves were able to advance together for about 300 yards, whereupon they encountered the German Grid Trench system. On the right of the advance, it was found that the wire was largely intact, apart from a few gaps, and the Germans bombed and machine gunned these gaps, which prevented any further progress. Elsewhere along the trench, however, the wire was cut and there did not seem to be any serious opposition. Nevertheless, the men hesitated to jump down into the German trenches, and instead, began to filter back across to the safety of their own lines.

By this time the third wave had caught up, as had a fourth wave, which had been detailed to mop up any opposition once the trenches had fallen, and all four waves became intermingled which added to the confusion. No less than three attempts were made to try to get the men to go forward again, but each attempt became markedly less successful than its predecessor, and eventually the attack came to a standstill. Although the British assembly trenches had received the attention of the German guns, the attackers in No Mans Land had not come under any great intensity of fire up until this point.

However, once it became obvious to the Germans that the attack was disorganised and faltering, they began to fire into the massed men from the flanks. It was probably this that finally settled the issue and convinced the Pals that they could no longer gain the enemy trenches, and all four waves, now merged into one, began to retreat to their own lines. The whole attack had been an abysmal failure, and no ground had been gained at all”.               

He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France.

The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916. 

On 01^st August 1932 the Prince of Wales and the President of France inaugurated the Thiepval Memorial in Picardy. The inscription reads: “Here are recorded the names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields between July 1915 and March 1918 but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.”…

William had served at most one year before he was killed.

The Medal Roll shows his name as Wm. James; other military records give his middle name correctly as Joseph.

William Joseph Blayney is commemorated on Weston Rhyn War Memorial.

His Army pay and War Gratuity of £3 went to his father John, who was awarded a pension of 10/- a week from July 1917.

His father remarried to Rosamund Lucy Glover in 1930 and in 1939, now 87 and incapacitated, he is living at New Cottage, Weston Rhyn, with wife Lucy Rosamund, aged 68. His son John lives nearby, in Stone Cottage.

His father died a few months later, in March 1940.

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