Robert Williams was born in 1891 at Hereford. By 1901 he and his family were living at 201 Caernarfon Road, Bangor, His father, also Robert, was originally from Bethesda, he worked as an ironmonger. His mother, Susan, was originally from Rotherham. Robert had 3 brothers, the elder, Llewellyn and 2 younger, Harry and Hugh. Sometime between 1905-10 they moved to Oswestry and lived at 56 York Street. At that time he was working as a grocery assistant.

Robert enlisted in April 1915 joining the 2/4 Bn KSLI at Shrewsbury. This was a second line territorial unit based in the UK.  In September 1916 he was compulsory transferred to 8 Bn South Lancashire Regiment along with 84 other KSLI men. The draft went over to France joining the 8 Bn South Lancashire’s on 17 September 1916. They joined the battalion in billets at Cramont just after they had been withdrawn from the line after the fighting on the Somme at Thiepval and Ancre Heights. They went back into the line at Ancre Heights at the end of September and began a tour of duty in and around the Schabwen and Stuff Redoubts. On the 1 October Robert was reported missing but subsequently was found, he had been wounded by a gun shot to the left thigh. He was transferred back to England to recover. He spent 6 months in England during which time he married Maud Matilda Humphreys at Oswestry. They moved to live at Walnut Tree House in Pant.

In June 1917 he was posted back to France rejoining his old battalion when it was in the line at Messines Ridge. By July the battalion was in camps around Poperinghe and Vlamertinge. They spent their time on working parties going up to the lines at night to do construction work and carrying supplies. Robert Williams was killed whilst on one such working party. Notification of his death was sent  to his old York Street address, it was returned as ‘not known at this address’ – his parents had since moved to Rotherham, his mother’s birth place. The war department contacted Oswestry Police and asked them to make enquiries. The police discovered that he and new wife had moved to Walnut Tree House. The redirected letter arrived a few days later. Maud, his wife of just a few months, chose the inscription ‘Thy Work is Done’ for his headstone in Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery near to Ypres. He is also commemorated at St Oswald’s Church, Oswestry.

Acknowledgements.

References and Sources

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