Pte 33103 William Dyson Cottier

William Dyson Cottier was born in Ballamanagh, in the parish of Lezayre, Isle of Man, on 9th March 1892, the son of Thomas Cottier and his wife Ann Jane (née Collister).  His parents married in 1889 and had three children.  William had an older sister Elizabeth Ann Jane, and a twin brother, John Thomas Corlett (called Thomas).

 

His father was a farmer and in 1893 his land was put up for auction, although the sale does not seem to have gone through for several years, based on newspaper reports.  

 

His mother died in 1895 aged 40, when the boys were three years old and their sister Elizabeth was five.  After her death it seems the children went to live with relatives. 

 

In 1901 William and his brother, age 9, are living with their uncle William A. Cottier, his wife and two children, in Keroomoor, Lezayre.  Their sister Elizabeth is living with their maternal aunt in Ballaugh, next door to their maternal grandparents. 

 

His father Thomas was frequently up before the Bailiff, mainly for drunkenness: being found derelict in the street (drunk and incapable), leaving his horse and cart unattended, drunk in charge of a horse and cart, etc.  These incidents appear in the local newspaper from about 1895 until at least 1910.  He paid fines and spent time locked up.  One newspaper article in 1905 describes Thomas as a former farmer, working in the Ramsey shipyard.  

 

An article in the Isle of Man Times on 6th February 1904 gives an idea of the boys’ childhood:  “Shameful Neglect of Children  -  A shameful story of the disgraceful neglect of two little boys.  William Cottier and Thomas Cottier, the twin sons of Thomas Cottier of Ballamanagh, Lezayre, was told in the Ramsay Court on Thursday.  The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children prosecuted.  It appears that Thos. Cottier lives in a house with his two sons at Ballamanagh, part of which is occupied by his brother and his family.  Defendant, who is addicted to drink, frequently left the children for periods of a week at a time without any food, and they had to be fed by the neighbours.  The defendant, who admitted leaving the children, stated that his brother fed them.  He was fined £5 or, in default, one month’s imprisonment with hard labour.”

 

In 1911 his twin Thomas, 19, is living with their father in Quayle’s Court, Ramsey.  His father, 54, and Thomas, 19, are both farm labourers. His sister Elizabeth, 21, a dressmaker, is living with their aunt in Ballaugh.  William is found as a servant on the farm of Bertram Lockett, 26, at “Narradale”, Sulby.  He is 19, and he employed as a horseman. 

 

His brother Thomas joined the Royal Navy on 13th October 1914.  He is described as being 5’ 1”, with fair hair and blue eyes. He gives his address as Knocksharry Farm, near Peel (his married sister’s address).  Thomas served until September 1919, and in 1922 rejoined for another seven years. 

 

William enlisted in Liverpool as Private 33103, 18th (Pals) Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment. Based on the amount of the War Gratuity, he served for about 20 months before he died, enlisting in about April 1916.  

 

William would have seen action late in 1916, perhaps at the Battle of the Transloy Ridges in October, and in 1917 at Arras.  In May the Pals battalions move to the Ypres Salient and take part in the Third Battle of Ypres (also called Passchendaele) in July to November.  The 18th celebrate Christmas at Brigade Reserve Chippewa Camp with a special dinner, entertainment, and football matches. The following days the battalion is engaged in working parties, camp construction, and training.  On the 29th they entrain at Fuzeville for Manor Halt and march to their support position, relieving the 2nd Wiltshires.

 

The Battalion War Diary for 1st January 1918 records:

4 p.m.  Battalion left for line, via ‘A’ track, and relieved the 2nd Yorkshire Regiment in the right sub-sector. 

8:55 p.m.  Intense barrage on the sector, all trenches and Battalion H.Q. heavily shelled, all calibres and trench mortars.  Direct hits on posts and support line.

8:57 p.m.  Enemy party, estimated 30 strong, attempted to raid Lewis Gun post of Centre Company. They advanced to the wire and threw bombs into the post, causing casualties, but were driven off by the Lewis Gun team.  Two more attempts were made by the enemy to secure a prisoner, but they were again repulsed and finally withdrew, leaving three dead in front of the post. 

Casualties: 

4 Killed: Ptes, 300199 Henry G. Bickley, 300010 Samuel Hilton, 56928 William Rigby, and L/Cpl 300359 Joseph Seddon.

10 Wounded:  including Pte. 57964 Alfred W. Trueman, who recovered from his wounds but was killed in action on 28/3/1918, and Pte. 33103 William Cottier.  

 

William died of his wounds on the 03rd January 1918 at No.2 Casualty Clearing Station.  He now rests in Outtersteene Communal Cemetery Extension, Bailleul. 

 

Outtersteene was captured by the III Corps on 13 October 1914 but no Commonwealth burials took place there for nearly three years. In August 1917, during the Third Battle of Ypres, the 2nd, 53rd and 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Stations came to Outtersteene, and the first and last of these remained until March 1918. The hamlet was captured by the Germans on 12 April 1918, and retaken by the 9th, 29th and 31st Divisions, with the ridge beyond it, on 18 and 19 August, but the cemetery was not used again during hostilities. After the Armistice, over 900 graves of 1914 and 1918 were brought into Plots I, II and IV from the battlefields surrounding Outtersteene and from certain small cemeteries. In the Extension, on the East side of the Communal Cemetery, were buried 17 soldiers from the United Kingdom and one from Australia, who fell in August and September 1918. 1,147 German graves were initially concentrated into Plot III. These were later removed to Steenwerck German Cemetery. The extension was used again in 1940, for the burial of those killed in the fighting which covered the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force to Dunkirk. Outtersteene Communal Cemetery Extension now contains 1,393 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 499 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 14 casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Second World War burials number 72, of which 23 are unidentified. The extension was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.

 

His sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Jane Kaneen, was his next of kin contacted by the CWGC for his headstone.

 

Elizabeth placed a notice in the Ramsey Courier on 11th January:

“On Jan. 3rd at No. 2 Casualty Clearing Station, France, from wounds received in action Jan. 2nd, William Dyson Cottier, K.L.R., aged 26 years, son of the late Thomas Cottier, Ballamanagh, Sulby, and brother of Mrs. Kaneen, Knocksharry, near Peel.  -  Deeply regretted.”

 

His brother in law Phillip Percy Kaneen received William’s Army effects and a War Gratuity of £9.  A pension card has not been found.  His sister died in 1942 and his twin brother Thomas in 1959 in Lezayre. 

 

William is commemorated on the following Memorials:

Cronin-y-Voddy Plaque (now in St. John the Baptist Church)

The Manx Roll of Honour

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