Military History

William is listed as dying of wounds incurred in action. War diaries for the Gaza campaign are not available online and the following description of the events leading up to William's death is taken from Wikepedia.

The battalion joined 232nd Brigade on 14th April 1917 near Suez, Egypt and then 232^nd Brigade joined 75th Division on 25th June 1917 again in Eygpt

This was the period of the Stalemate in Southern Palestine. The battalion first came under fire on 8 July at Samson's Ridge, near Gaza, then on 20th July, it suffered 80 casualties from artillery fire while supporting 1/5th Bn Bedfordshire Regiment's attack at 'Umbrella Hill'.

The EEF's offensive was renewed in late October with the Third Battle of Gaza. The preliminary bombardment of the Gaza position from land and sea began on 27thOctober, but 75th Division's participation was initially limited to raids until after Gaza fell on 7 November.

232nd Brigade then joined the pursuit on 9th November 1917 as far as Beit Hanoun, where it found the water supply inadequate and pushed on to Deir Sneid. By 13th November the division had closed up to attack Junction Station. The first line of objectives was taken easily, but the attacking brigades were delayed in their advance to the second objective, a ridge north of Mesmiye el Gharbiye, and a gap opened up between 232nd and 233rd Brigades.

1/5th Devons were brought up to fill this, and with 1/4th Wiltshire Regiment of 233rd Brigade alongside, they drove the enemy off the ridge and captured three machine guns. The troops dug in as darkness fell, and then the division swept in for the Capture of Junction Station the following morning on 14 November 1917. The battalion's casualties in the action had been 57.