Military History

William is listed as dying of wounds on 12 Jan 1915 at Woolwich. A record found for us by Charlie at the Great War forum shows that on the 8th November 1914 William, of 44th Battery R.F.A was transported, as a casualty, back to the UK aboard the hospital/ambulance ship SS St. Andrew aka HMHS St. Andrew.

The war diary suggests that he was one of 6 men of the 44th Battery who were wounded by fire from Heavy German Guns, along with 4 horses killed, on 5 Nov 1914 in the Givenchy sector. However we have found reports of other members of the Battery being wounded on 7 Nov 1914 but there is no mention of them in the war diary.

William's Register of Effects states that he died in Woolwich and, given the January 1915 date, we believe that means he was at the Royal Herbert Hospital on Shooters Hill, Greenwich which is next door to Greenwich Cemetery where he was buried. [Map]

On his return to the UK he would have been taken off the strength of the 44th Battery, 13th Brigade RFA and placed on the strength of a unit local to the hospital which in this case was the 23rd Reserve Battery, RFA.