Lance Corporal 17739 William Wilson

William Wilson was born on 16th June 1896 in Rock Ferry, Cheshire, the son of Alfred Reading Wilson and his wife Mary Jane (née Rowlands). His father, born in Bootle, and his mother in Amlwch, Anglesey, married in Liverpool in 1893 and had four children. William had older siblings Helena and Arthur, and a younger sister Elfrida, all born in Liverpool.

 

He was baptised in St. Matthias' Church, Liverpool, on 29th July 1896, his parents’ residence given as 55 Chatham Road, Rock Ferry, and his father’s occupation as dispenser.

 

His father Alfred died of typhoid fever in 1898, at the age of 28, leaving his mother with four children under the age of five.

 

In 1901 his widowed mother, 29, is head of household at 19 Lime Grove, Seaforth.  She is working from home as a dressmaker on her own account, she has four children in the household; Helena is 7, Arthur 6, William 4, and Elfrida 3.  

 

In 1903 his mother married James Woodhouse, who had a son James, and together they had four more children: Herbert, Stanley, and twins Percival and Florence.

 

The 1911 census finds the family at 190 Wadham Road, Bootle, with eight children.  His stepfather, 49, is a principal timekeeper for the Dock Board, his mother is 39.  His stepbrother James Woodhouse, 18, is an apprentice mechanical engineer for the Dock Board, his sister Helena is 17, no occupation, William is 14, working as an assistant librarian, and his sister Elfrida is 13, at school.  His half siblings Herbert, 7, and Stanley 6, are at school; Florence and Percival are 1 year old.  Another daughter, Ethel, was born in 1913.

 

William enlisted in Liverpool on 11th September 1914 as Private 17739, 19th Bn King’s Liverpool Regiment, giving his age as 19 years and 85 days and his occupation as clerk.  He is described as being 5’ 8 and a half inches tall, weighing 138 lbs, with a fresh complexion, blue eyes, and brown hair.  He gives his religion as Wesleyan, and his mother Mary Woodhouse, 190 Wadham Road as his next of kin.  He states he has completed an apprenticeship with Burnyeat & Dalzell (ships’ stores, offices in Castle Street, Liverpool) and has lived 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. 

William shipped to France with his battalion from Folkestone, disembarking at Boulogne on 7th November 1915.  

 

His service record survives and shows William was wounded in action a number of times -

13/02/1916 wounded, right arm

 

On 05/7/1916, during the first week of the Battle of the Somme, William suffered a back injury.

 

He was wounded again on 18/9/1916 and evacuated to the U.K., County of Middlesex War Hospital, Napsbury, near St. Albans, with a shrapnel wound right thigh

 

01/11/1916 discharged after 45 days

 

10/11/1916 posted 3rd (Garrison) Bn K.L.R.

 

19/12/1916 returned to France and posted to 1st Bn K.L.R.

 

23/12/1916 posted 13th Bn K.L.R.

 

02/5/1917 wounded in action

 

05/5/1917 repatriated to the U.K.

 

He was treated at the 2nd Western General Hospital Manchester bullet wound left shoulder, “shrapnel ball can be felt under skin”

 

15/5/1917 shrapnel removed 

 

21/5/1917 Military Hospital, Bangor, North Wales

 

15/6/1917 discharged

 

26/6/1917 posted 3rd (Garrison) Bn K.L.R.

 

27/7/1917 at Cosheston (S. Wales), forfeited 7 days pay and confined to barracks for 7 days for overstaying leave 25 hours

 

08/8/1917 returned to France, posted to 17th Bn K.L.R.

 

25/8/1917 posted 2/6th Bn K.L.R. 

 

07/12/1917 appointed unpaid Lance Corporal 

 

02/4/1918 appointed paid Lance Corporal

 

Unfortunately, the casualty form is missing from his record, so it is not known when he received his fatal wounds.

William died of his wounds on 16th May 1918 at No.56 Casualty Clearing Station, at Gezaincourt.

 

His family announced his death in the Liverpool Echo on 21st May 1918:

“May 16, died of wounds, aged 21 years, Lance-Corporal William Wilson (K.L.R.), beloved son of Mary Woodhouse, 190 Wadham Road, and grandson of the late William Wilson, Dockmaster, Liverpool.”

 

He now rests at Bagneux British Cemetery, Gezaincourt, southwest of Doullens, Somme where his headstone has the epitaph:

"A LOVING MEMORY"

At the end of March, the 3rd, 29th and 56th Casualty Clearing Stations moved to Gezaincourt, where they were joined for a short time in April by the 45th. They remained until September. The cemetery was begun in April 1918, after the close of the German offensive in Picardy. The 3rd Canadian Stationary Hospital, in the citadel at Doullens, also buried in this cemetery in May and June 1918, and the 2nd Canadian Division in April and May. The graves in Plot III, Row A relate to a bombing raid over Doullens on 30 May 1918.

There are 1,374 servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in the cemetery.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

William earned his three medals.  

 

His mother received his Army effects, including a War Gratuity of £17-10s. A pension card in the name of his mother, at 190 Wadham Road, shows that a pension was refused, most likely because William was living independently before he enlisted, and had no dependents.

 

His mother was widowed again in 1931, and in 1939 is still living at 190 Wadham Road, with youngest daughter Ethel.  She appears to have died in Cheshire in 1944 aged 73.

 

William is commemorated on the Bootle War Memorial, King’s Gardens.