William Henry Pearce
Memorial: Kingswood - Holy Trinity Church
Regiment: Somerset Light Infantry
Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Silver War Badge, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Private 10715
Parents: Samuel and Clara Pearce
Home address: 42 Waters Road, Kingswood, Bristol
Pre-war occupation: Boot Finisher
Date of birth: 1895
Place of birth: St. George, Bristol
Date of death: 01/07/1916
Buried/Commemorated at: Commemorated at Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France and Kingswood Holy Trinity Memorial
Age: 21
Further information:
William was born in St. George in Bristol, the son of a miner and the second youngest of four children with two older sisters and a younger brother. William's mother died five years before his death.
William enlisted in 1914 and served with the 1st Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry, his battalion was mobilised to France that August, where they took part in various actions on the Western Front including Mons and Ypres. William was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme (1st July - 18th November 1916) he was initially listed as missing and his body was never found. The initial attack was launched by 120,000 allied soldiers and of these 20,000 were killed and most of them in the first hour. The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, where William is remembered, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and who have no known grave.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
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/