Joseph Williams
Memorial: South Gloucestershire war dead not on a local memorial
Regiment: Royal Engineers
Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Silver War Badge, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Sapper 132979
Parents: Joseph and Matilda Williams
Home address: 3 Moravian Road, Kingswood, Bristol
Pre-war occupation: Blacksmith's Striker
Date of birth: 1894
Place of birth: Trowbridge
Date of death: 02/01/1916
Buried/Commemorated at: Buried at Gorre British And Indian Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France. Not commemorated on a local memorial.
Age: 21
Further information:
Joseph was born in Trowbridge, the son of a general labourer and the youngest of two brothers. He had a younger sister Florence who died as a baby. In 1911, at the age of 16, Joseph was living with his older brother, who was a blacksmith, and his brother’s family, together with his widowed mother.
Joseph enlisted in the Army in Chatham Kent in 1914 and The Tunnelling Company, which he joined, were formed in 1915, serving under the First Army. The role of the tunneler was to lay mines under the German positions and dig the deep dugouts for the troops. The chateau at Gorre, close to where Joseph was buried, was occupied early in the war by troops serving with the British Expeditionary Force. It was located in what was a quiet area at the time of Joseph’s death, apart from the occasional German military bombardment. Joseph is recorded as having been killed in action, therefore he may have been a victim of one such bombardment.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
With kind permission of Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/