Believed to be – based on listing at St Oswald’s Church Oswestry which has his regiment as West Yorks.

William Davies was born in Wroxeter in 1887. His father, John, was from Cardington and his mother, Alice , was born Chelmarsh, Shropshire. His father was a waggoner on a farm. William had 2 sisters Elizabeth (1889) born Wroxeter and Ethel (1898) born Ellerdine Shropshire.  In 1901 the family was living at 5 Sutton Hill Cottages, Sutton Maddocks, Shifnal Shropshire. William, aged 14, was working as a ‘boy on the farm’. By 1911 William was married to Mary ( b1883, St Martins)  and living at 5 Gardden Lodge, Ruabon, Denbighshire with 2 children Fred, age 5 and born at Rhos and 1 year old Mary born at Ruabon. At this time Wiliam was working as a wagoner on a farm.

William enlisted at Leeds, probably in 1917 and a conscript. He was posted to 2/8 Bn  West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Own) and possibly went over to France wit the battalion in January 1917. In January 1918, as part of army re-organisation, the 2/8 Bn was amalgamated into 1/8 Bn West Yorks. William died of wounds on 28 July 1918, it is not known exactly when or where he was wounded. In the preceding days the battalion had been in action during the Second Battle of the Marne at Marfaux – they had had heavy casualties. William was first buried at Chichey in a French military cemetery – it is probable he died in a French Army field ambulance or CCS. In June 1923 he was re-buried at Epernay French National Cemetery and, again, in July 1964, when British graves were cleared from Epernay and reburied at Terlincthun British Cemetery near to Boulogne.

Acknowledgements.

References and Sources

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