Name Difference

The name on the memorial is Frederick Watkin and date of death given as 24 Oct 1917, however we are unable to find any person named Watkin killed on that day and we believe that the memorial contains an error and that William is the man remembered on it.

Circumstances Leading to Death (Normally from War Diary)           

On the 9th October 1917 the battalion began fresh attacks in the area of Polderhoek Chateau and Woods to the north of Gheluvelt. Almost as soon as the attack began the battlalion were forced to retire after suffering heavy casualties from heavy artillery and machine gun fire. The war diary tells us that the men of the battalion had not had a hot meal for 5 days, were soaking wet due to constant rain and had very litte rest or sleep as well as taking part in heavy fighting.

William was killed during the attack.