Pte 17229 Frederick Charles Williams

• Age: 22
• From: Seaforth, Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• K.I.A Saturday 1st July 1916
• Commemorated at: Thiepval Memorial
  Panel Ref: P&F1D8B &8 C.

Frederick Charles Williams was born in Seaforth, Liverpool on the 07th November 1893 and baptised into the Roman Catholic faith.  He was the second son of John, a bricksetter, and his wife Mary Ellen (nee O’Leary), who also had a younger daughter. They married in 1887 but no church record can be found. 

In 1901 the family lived at 2 Hawarden Grove, Seaforth, Liverpool. Frederick is 7 year old and lives with his parents and two siblings. His father is a 37 year old brick setter, born in Seaforth, whilst his mother is 35 years old and was also born in Seaforth. His siblings are shown as: John aged 12 and Mary aged 5 both also born in Seaforth.

By the time of the 1911 Census the family are living at 9 Scarisbrick Avenue, Litherland, Liverpool. Frederick is 17 and is an invoice clerk with a firm of bag manufacturers. His father is a 47 year old bricklayer, whilst his mother is 45 years old and they advise that they have been married for 23 years and three of their four children have survived. His sister Mary is 15 years of age. His elder brother, John, born 1889, is not with the family but a John Williams, born in 1889 in Seaforth is shown as an assistant teacher in an elementary school and living as a boarder in Coventry. 

Prior to the war Frederick was a keen cricketer and a member of Litherland Cricket Club, he also sang in the choir of Our Lady's, Star of the Sea, Litherland.

Frederick enlisted in the Kings (Liverpool) Regiment at St George's Hall in Liverpool on 03rd September 1914, joining the 18th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 17229. He gave his age as 20 years 300 days, his occupation as a clerk with Messrs. Binnie and Co, cartage and forwarding agents who had premises at 26 Brunswick Street, Liverpool and his next of kin as his father, John, 1 Lathom Grove, Seaforth. He was described as 5ft 5¾, weighing 133lbs, 36" chest, with a fresh complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair. He stated his religion as Roman Catholic.

From the 23^rd September 1914 he was billeted at Hooton Park Race Course and remained there until 03^rd December 1914 when they moved into the hutted accommodation at Lord Derby’s estate at Knowsley Hall. On 30th April 1915 the 18th 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. 

He crossed to France on his 22nd birthday on the 07th November 1915 and was attached to 30th Division Grenade School from 16th to 18th January 1916. He was given 10 days leave in the UK on the 22nd May and rejoined the 18th Battalion on the 01st June, only a month later he was killed in action on 01st July 1916, aged 22.

The events of the July 1st 1916 for the 18th Battalion:

At 6.30am the artillery commenced an intensive bombardment of the enemy’s trenches. Zero Hour – 7.30 am – the battalion commenced to leave their trenches and the attack commenced. The attack was pressed with great spirit and determination in spite of heavy shelling and machine gun enfilade fire which caused casualties amounting to 2/3rds of the strength of the Battalion in action. The whole system of German trenches including the Glatz Redoubt was captured without any deviation from the scheduled programme. Consolidated positions and made strong points for defence against possible counter attacks.

Graham Maddocks provides more detail concerning the events of the day:

As the first three waves began to move forward towards the German reserve line, known as Alt Trench and then on to the Glatz Redoubt itself, they suddenly came under enfilading fire from the left. This was from a machine gun which the Germans had sited at a strong point in Alt Trench. The gun itself was protected by a party of snipers and bombers, who, hidden in a rough hedge, were dug into a position in Alt Trench, at its junction with a communication trench known as Alt Alley. These bombers and snipers were themselves protected by rifle fire from another communication trench, Train Alley which snaked back up the high ground and into Montauban itself. The machine gun fire was devastating and it is certain that nearly of the Battalion’s casualties that day were caused by that one gun.

Lieutenant Colonel Edward Henry Trotter wrote in the conclusion of his account of the days action:

I cannot speak to highly of the gallantry of the Officers and men. The men amply repaid the care and kindness of their Company Officers, who have always tried to lead and not to drive. As laid down in my first lecture to the Battalion when formed, in the words of Prince Kraft:

“Men follow their Officers not from fear, but from love of the Regiment where everything had always and at all times gone well with them”.

Joe Devereux in his book A Singular Day on the Somme gives the Casualty Breakdown for the 18th Battalion as Killed in Action 7 Officers and 165 men and of those who died in consequence of the wounds 3 Officers and 19 men a total of 194 out of a total loss for the four Liverpool Pals Battalions of 257.

Frederick's body was not recovered from the battlefield or was subsequently lost as he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

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 01st 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.”

Frederick Charles is remembered on the following Memorials:

Waterloo Civic Memorial

Liverpool Hall of Remembrance Panel 34.

In October 1916, his effects were sent to his father at 1 Lathom Grove and a sworn declaration dated 29th May 1919 showed that he was survived by his parents and sister Mary aged 23, of 1 Lathom Grove, Seaforth, Liverpool and his brother, John, 31 years, of 54 Kingswood Avenue, Waterloo, Liverpool.

His mother died, aged 53, in the September quarter of 1919. 

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