William Robert Bateman

Memorial: Downend - Christ Church

Regiment: Royal Fusiliers

Medals: British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Private GS/67424

Parents: Charles Shadrach and Lucy Bateman (nee Pool)

Marital status: Single

Home address: 4 Pendennis Road, Staple Hill, Bristol

Date of birth: 1898

Place of birth: Pendennis Road, Staple Hill, Bristol

Date of death: 26/10/1917

Buried/Commemorated at: Tyne Cot Memorial (Panel 28 to 30), West-Vlaanderen, Belgium

Age: 19

Further information:

William Robert Bateman was the youngest of six children born to parents Charles and Lucy Bateman.

He first served as Private 292801 in the Army Service Corps and then taken on the strength of the City of London Battalion (Royal Fusiliers) and then to 'B' Company, 2nd/2nd (City of London) Battalion (Royal Fusiliers). This was disbanded at Rouen, France in 1916 with the 3rd/2nd Battalion then becoming the 2nd/2nd Battalion. Private William Bateman was Killed in Action on 26th October 1917, the first day of the Second Battle of Passchendaele when he was recorded as 'missing, presumed dead'. The assault began at 5:40 a.m. on the morning of 26 October. The troops were preceded by a rolling barrage, edging forward in lifts of 50yds every four minutes, permitting the infantry to keep up while negotiating the mud. Bateman's Division suffered 2,201 casualties during the attack. His body was never recovered for burial so has no known gave but he is commemorated on Panel 28 to 30 on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the missing and is also commemorated on the memorial plaque in the Staple Hill Methodist Church and on the Christ Church Downend Memorial.

The Register of Soldiers' Effects shows that Private Bateman possessed £5.19s.1d which was sent to his father on 2nd November 1918. A War Gratuity of £3.0s.0d was sent to mother Lucy Bateman on 20th December 1920 following the death of her husband Charles in 1919

By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):

Forces War Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Soldiers Died In The Great War, Find A Grave index, Free BMD, Register of Soldiers' Effects, Medal Rolls Index Card, UK Censuses, David Blackmore – Mangotsfield Residents Association