L/Cpl 32676 Francis Williams

• Age: 21
• From: Birkenhead, Cheshire
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• K.I.A Wednesday 18th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Warlencourt Brit Cem
  Panel Ref: III.E.16

Francis Williams was born in 1895 in Birkenhead and was baptised on the 17^th February, 1895 at St Peter’s Church, Birkenhead. He was the son of Joseph and Jane Rebecca Williams, of 243 Brook St, Birkenhead.

The 1911 Census shows the family living at 243 Brook St, Birkenhead. His father Joseph is aged 51, born  in Wallasey in 1860 and is a dock labourer. His wife Jane is aged 48, born in 1863 in Ireland. They have eight children who were all born in Birkenhead. Charles aged 22, born 1889 and occupation labourer in fitters shop, Joseph aged 20, born 1891 a trimmer in a power house, Thomas aged 18, born 1893 an apprentice engineer in a shipyard, Francis aged 16 born 1895 is a messenger on the railway. The other four children Martha aged 16, born 1895, Hugh aged 12, born 1899, Francis Maud aged 10, born 1901 and Helen Scarlett aged 6, born 1905 are at school.

Francis enlisted in Liverpool and was serving in the 18th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Lance-Corporal No 32676 when he was killed in action on the 18th October 1916 aged 21 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 now lies in Warlencourt British Cemetery, France. The inscription on his headstone reads:

“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.

He is also commemorated on the Birkenhead War Memorial and London and North Western Railwaymen Roll of Honour.

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