W illiam Williams was born at Knightley in 1881. He was baptized at St Lawrence Church, Gnosall on the 30 th January 1881, the s on of John & Mary Williams. They were living at Knightley , his father being a Shepherd. In 1891 William was living with his brothers Arthur George & Albert with the family at Knightley , including his Grandfather William Aldridge. William has moved out of the family home presumably in search of work, we find him on the 1901 Census at Cheslyn Hay with a possible relative, Thomas Williams, working as a Sto ker in Colliery below ground. By 191 1 he has moved and is lodging at Plants Building, W alsall Rd, Great Wyrley . His job is Colliery Stoker above g round. According to the W ar Records, William signed up at Burton on T rent as a Private with the 1/6 North Staf fordshire Regiment with Service Number 4331 and later transferred to the Prince of W ales's (North Staffordshire Regiment) , Service number 241349. He was killed in action on 1 st July 1916 and buried at Gommecourt Wood New Cemetery , Foncquevillers , France Grave Re f I I. B. 9 William was awarded the British W ar Medal and V ictory Medal.

W illiam W i lliams

Private 241349 - Prince of W ales's (North Staffordshire Regiment) Ki l l ed in Ac ti on 1s t J ul y 1916 – aged 35 Buri ed at G omm ec ourt W oo d Ne w Cemete ry , Fon c quevillers

Gommecourt W ood New Cemetery , Foncquevillers , France

Histor ical In for mation Foncquevillers was in Bri tish hands in 1915 and 1 916. On 1 July 1916 , Go mmecou rt Wood was attacked by the 46th (No rth Midland) Division, an d the Southe rn part of th e village by the 56 th

(London) Division. The a ttack met with tempo rary success but could no t be sustained ; and Gom mecou rt re mained a sal ient in the Ge rman li ne until 27 Feb ruar y 1917 , when it was

evacuated. It was neve r retaken by the Ge rman s; at the end of their offens ive of Ma rch 1918 , it was jus t within the Britis h lines. Gom mecou rt wa s later "adop ted" by the County Borough o f

Wolverhampton . Gommecou rt Wood New Cemetery was made, after the Armistice , when graves were brough t in

from the battlefields of July 1916, March 1917 , and March, April and Aug ust 1918 , and fro m certai n smaller bu rial grounds , i ncl udi ng:- BASTION CEMETERY , FONCQUEVILLERS, in the old German line North of the Wood, where 55 men (nearly al l unidentified) of the 46 th Di visi on w ere buri ed BRETENCOURT FRENCH MILIT ARY CEMETERY , on the West side of the bridge between Bretencou rt and Bl amon t Mill, in the com mune of RIVIERE. He re were buri ed 233 F rench sol di ers and 38 from the United K ingdom; three men of the Indian Labou r Co rps; an d one German prisoner. GOMMECOURT CHA TEAU CEMETERY , at the North-East corner of the Chateau park, begun by the Germans . Here were buried 55 soldiers from New Zealand, who fell in July and August, 1918 ,

and 14 fro m the Uni ted K ingdom. GOMMECOURT WOOD CEMETERY No.1, or THE SAP CEMETERY , FONCQUEVILLERS, between the old fron t lin es, in which were bu ried 111 men of the 46th Di vision, almos t al l un i de ntifie d. GOMMECOURT WOOD CEMETERY No.5, on the North-West side of the Wood, contained the graves of 27 men of the 46th Di vi sion. GOMMECOURT WOOD CEMETERY No.6, close to No.5, con tained the g raves of 40 men, almos t

all of the 46 th Di vi sion. GOMMECOURT WOOD CEMETERY No.8, FON CQUEVILLERS, be twee n the old front lines, contained th e g raves of 46 men of the 46th Division. POINT 75 BRITISH CEMETERY , FONCQUEVILLERS, on the old German front line, contained the graves of 35 men of the 46th Di vi sion. There a re 748 , 1914 - 1 8 war casualties co mme morated i n this site . O f the se, 464 are unidentified and special me mo rial s ar e erec ted t o ten sol di ers fro m the Uni ted Ki ngdom , known or bel ieved t o be buried a mong the m.

The ceme ter y cove rs an area of 2,690 squa re me tres and is enclosed by a rubble wall.