Pte 25398 William John Townsend

 

 

On the 1901 Census, the family is living at Tile Cross, Sheldon. His father, John, is aged 36, a waggoner on a farm, born in Coleshill, his mother, Harriett, is aged 34, born Bickenhill. They have four children in the household, all born in Sheldon are; Ada is 11, Annie is 10, George is 8 and William is 6.  

 

 

By 1911 his parents are living in Oak Cottages, Sheldon Lane. His father, John, is aged 46, and is a farm labourer, his mother ,Harriett, is aged 44. They advised that they had been married for 23 years, and have had 4 children. William, aged 16, is the only child at home, and a farm labourer like his father.  

 

William enlisted in Birmingham joining the 14th Bn, King’s (Liverpool) Regiment, as Private 25398. His brother George enlisted at the same time, as Private 25397, 13th Bn, K.L.R.  According to a later newspaper article, the brothers enlisted in January 1915. 

 

At some point William was transferred to the 18th (Pals) Battalion of The King'.s Liverpool Regiment. His brother George also served for some time in the 18th, before being transferred to the 12th Bn.  

 

William was declared Missing on 18th October 1918, and his death, in action or from wounds, was presumed to have occurred on or shortly after that date. This was during the hundred days offensive which ended the First World War (8^th August-11^th November 1918).

He now rests at Le Cateau Military Cemetery, France.

Le Cateau-Cambrésis and the country to the west of it was the scene of a battle fought by the British II Corps on 26 August 1914 against a greatly superior German force. The town remained in German hands from that date until the evening of 10 October 1918, when it was rushed by the 5th Connaught Rangers and finally cleared a week later. During the war Le Cateau had been a German railhead and the site of an important hospital centre. The military cemetery was laid out by the Germans in February 1916 with separate plots for the Commonwealth and German dead. It contains the graves of over 5,000 German soldiers, many of whom were buried during the occupation, the rest being brought in from other German cemeteries after the Armistice. A separate plot contains the graves of 34 Russian prisoners of war who died in captivity. The Commonwealth plot is the site of almost 700 graves and commemorations of the First World War. The majority of the graves in Plots I, III, IV and V are those of British dead buried by the Germans, mainly from the battleground of 1914; Plot II contains entirely graves of October and November 1918, eight of which were brought in after the Armistice.

13th December 1918;

Private William John Townsend, King's Liverpool Regiment, second son of Mr and Mrs Townsend of Lyndon End, who is missing since October 18, had been in the army since January 1915. For 2 years and 8 months he was in Salonika and in July was redrafted to France. His elder brother, Lance Corporal George Townsend of the same regiment was killed in action a few weeks ago.

William was listed as Missing in the Birmingham Post on 14th December 1918: 

"Private William John Townsend, King’s Liverpool Regiment, second son of Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, of Lyndon End.”  

His death was once again reported in the Coleshill Chronicle - Saturday 17 August 1918 

COLESHILL AND THE WAR. 

A SHELDON YOUNG MAN KILLED. 

The sad news has reached Mr. and Mrs. J. Townsend, of Lyndon End, Sheldon, that their eldest son, Lance-corporal George Townsend, was killed on July 26th, 1918. Lance-corporal Townsend joined the army in January, 1915. He had been wounded twice, and had been in France three winters. He was 25 years of age, and previous to joining up worked for the Birmingham Corporation Water Department. He was much respected by all who knew him.