Pte 17381 William Hilton

William Hilton was born in Bootle on 24th March 1892, the only son of William Scorer Hilton and his wife Margaret (née Eaton).  His father, born in Liverpool and his mother, in Bootle, married on the 03rd August 1891 at St Mary's Church, Kirkdale and had three children. After William they had two daughters, Margaret in 1893, and Gertrude in 1897.

 

William was baptised on 01st May 1892 in St. Paul’s Church, Kirkdale, his parents living at 5 Iris Street, and his father’s occupation listed as bookkeeper.

 

In 1901 the family is living at 53 Benedict Street, Bootle. His father is aged 32, a shipping clerk, mother Margaret is aged 29, William is 9 and Margaret 7. 

 

By 1911 they have moved to 67 Moss Lane, Walton (Orrell Park). His father, 42, is a steamship company clerk, and his mother is 40. William is 19, a clerk in the provision trade, Margaret is 17, no occupation listed, and Gertrude is 13, at school.

 

William enlisted in Liverpool on 02nd September 1914 as Private 17381, joining the 19th Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment, giving his age as 22 years and 162 days, and his occupation as salesman. He is described as being 5’ 6 and a half inches tall, weighing 113 lbs with a sallow complexion, blueish eyes and light hair.  He gives his religion as Congregationalist, and as next of kin his father at 71 Kingfield Road, Walton.

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, disembarking at Boulogne on 07th November 1915.  His service record survives and shows -

 

11/12/1915 made allotment of 6d per diem 

02/9/1916 granted Good Conduct Badge for two years’ service

 

26/6/1917 to II Corps R.E.

11/8/1917 rejoined battalion 

13/8/1917 to 30th Division (illegible)

22/8/1917 rejoined battalion

31/8/1917 granted leave to U.K.

12/8/1917 rejoined from leave

30/11/1917 to II Corps (Anzac) School (batman) 

08/1/1918 rejoined battalion

08/2/1918 to Field Ambulance (batman)

10/2/1918 rejoined battalion

14/5/1918 to ‘G’ I.B.D. Etaples

 

He was posted to 13th Bn K.L.R. on 30th May 1918.

 

17/7/1918 to No.142 Field Ambulance, fever of unknown origin, to No.2 C.C.S.

11/8/1918 rejoined unit in the field.

He was initially declared Missing on 31st August 1918. His date and manner of death were never established. 

The Battalion War Diary records: 

August 30 – At night time the battalion moved up in preparation for an attack on Ecoust.

August 31 – the Battalion attacked and were successful in obtaining their objective as also did the 1^st Gordon Highlanders on their Left.  The Battalion on the Right flank, however, did not get their objective and this necessitated a withdrawal temporarily and subsequently the Battalion re-took the objective though suffering heavy casualties. 

Estimated Casualties:  9 Officers, 200 Other Ranks.  

Private 17381 William Hilton was one of those killed in action that day.

His parents were informed of his death by early October, placing an announcement in the Liverpool Echo on the 08th, under the list of Died From Wounds:

“August 31, previously reported Missing, now reported killed in action, aged 26 years, Private William Hilton, K.L.R. (late Pals), the dearly-beloved only son of William Scorer and Margaret Hilton, 7 Chatsworth Avenue, Orrell Park.  (Deeply mourned by Father, Mother, and Sisters.)”

 

However, still desperate for information on their son’s fate, the next day his parents placed a Missing - Information Wanted notice:

“Private William Hilton, K.L.R. (formerly with the Liverpool Pals), is reported missing since August 31.  Any information concerning him will be gratefully received by his parents, 7 Chatsworth Avenue, Orrell Park.”

He was formally announced as dead in the Liverpool Echo on 10th October 1918: 

ORRELL PARK PRIVATE. 

The death in action on August 31 is announced of Private William Hilton, K.L.R., only son of Mr. and Mrs. William Scorer, 7, Orrell Park. He joined on September 2, 1914, and had been in France since November, 1915. He was in the employ of William Brown and Co., Limited., Templecourt. 

A notice also appeared on 11th October 1918:

“August 31, previously reported missing, now reported killed in action, Private William Hilton K.L.R. (late “Pals”).  “Till we meet.”  Sadly mourned by Dorothy and all at 43, Kingfield Road, Orrell Park.”

 

His name appeared in the list of K.L.R. killed in the Weekly Casualty List on 29th October 1918.

 

His death was later officially accepted to have occurred on or shortly after 31st August 1918, in action or from wounds.

 

The CWGC Graves Registration report, giving his date of death as 2.9.1918, shows that, after the war when graves were concentrated, his body was exhumed, and reinterred in Quéant Road Cemetery, Buissy, where his epitaph reads,

 

Buissy was reached by the Third Army on 2 September 1918, after the storming of the Drocourt-Queant line, and it was evacuated by the Germans on the following day. Queant Cemetery was made by the 2nd and 57th Casualty Clearing Stations in October and November 1918. It then consisted of 71 graves (now Plot I, Rows A and B), but was greatly enlarged after the Armistice when 2200 graves were brought in from the battlefields of 1917-1918 between Arras and Bapaume.

There are now 2,377 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 1,441 of the burials are unidentified, but there are special memorials to 56 casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials commemorate 26 casualties buried in German cemeteries in the neighbourhood, whose graves could not be found on concentration. The cemetery was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

His mother received William’s personal effects in March 1919:  Letters, Photographs, Army Forms (illegible), Mirror, Cards, Communion card, Religious pledge, Nail files, Ribbon, Written character (his service record shows Character as Very Good). 

 

William earned his three medals, which his mother signed for in 1920 and 1921.  She also received William’s Army effects, including a War Gratuity of £19.  The pension card, showing killed in action, in the name of his mother at 7 Chatsworth Avenue, indicates that a pension was awarded, amount not specified. 

His mother died in 1931, aged 60, and his father in 1936, aged 68, then living at 50 Stanley Gardens, Orrell Park.

 

William is commemorated on the following memorials -

Liverpool’s Hall of Remembrance, Panel 55 Right

St. Luke the Evangelist Church Book, Walton

Westminster Road Congregational Church, Kirkdale