William Percival Thomas
Memorial: Kingswood - Holy Trinity Church
Regiment: County of London Regiment
Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Silver War Badge, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Private 5682 and 632709
Parents: William John and Agnes Thomas
Home address: Honey Hill, Kingswood, Bristol
Pre-war occupation: Bootmaker
Date of birth: 12/11/1891
Place of birth: Yorkley, Gloucestershire
Date of death: 19/01/1918
Buried/Commemorated at: Buried at Jerusalem War Cemetery, Israel and Palestine (including Gaza) and commemorated on Holy Trinity Kingswood Memorial
Age: 26
Further information:
William was born in Yorkley, Gloucestershire, the son of an insurance agent and the eldest of seven children with three brothers and three sisters. At the age of 16 he worked for Great Western Railway but left after two months.
William went out with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force and served in the Egyptian Theatre of War where in 1917 his battalion took part in bitter fighting in the Battle of Jerusalem (17th November-30th December). The Turks surrendered the city on the 11th December 1917, but the allies had to endure further severe fighting between 26th and 30th December in order to hold on to it. William died a month after the capture of Jerusalem, but not from wounds, so it is likely that he succumbed to any one of a number of infections that were rife in the Middle East. Overall, this campaign resulted in 18,000 allied casualties.
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/