William Percy Jones was born in November 1892 at Moreton, Oswestry. He was the middle of three children, with an elder brother and younger sister. His father, Thomas worked as a general labourer and his mother was named Annie. They lived at 11 Upper Church Street during 1901 and had moved to 70 Salop Road by 1911. He worked as a blacksmith striker at the Cambrian Railway works.

In November 1913 he left the railway and enlisted in the regular army joining 2 Bn Coldstream Guards at Birkenhead as a regular in 2 Coy. He went over to France with the battalion on 12 August 1914 and was in action during all of the first months of the war.

William was KIA on 13 February 1915. During February 1915 his unit were alternating with 2-3 days tours in the front line at Cuinchy and billets back in Béthune. His Company Commander, Captain Geston, and one of his mates, Private Smith, wrote separately to his father that William had been in a working party in company of men preparing positions in the brickyard at Cuinchy when he had inadvertently shown himself. A sniper bullet hit him in the left side and penetrated his heart. The Captain said he died instantaneously but Private Smith said he lingered for 2 or 3 minutes. The Private goes on ‘we buried him in a decent place and erected a cross, he was a brave and true Englishman’. He was buried at Cuinchy, but his grave was lost or destroyed in later fighting and he is commemorated on Le Touret Memorial. He is also on the memorial at Holy Trinity Church, listed as Percy Jones.

Acknowledgements.

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