William Gingell

Memorial: Kingswood - Holy Trinity Church

Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment

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

Rank and number: Lance Corporal 7427

Parents: William and Martha Gingell

Marital status: Married

Home address: 30 Soundwell Road, Kingswood, Bristol

Date of birth: 1888

Place of birth: Oldland, Bristol

Date of death: 16/09/1914

Buried/Commemorated at: No known burial site but commemorated at La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre Memorial, Seine-et-Marne, France. Kingswood and Warmley

Age: 33

Further information:

William was born in Oldland, the son of a farm labourer and a middle child of six with two brothers and three sisters. He married Lavinia Lewis who was born in 1891, and their daughter Violet Lavinia was born in April 1913. Violet was about 18 months old when William died.

William served with the 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment and was mobilised to France with the British Expeditionary Force on 23rd August 1914 and fought in the Battle of Mons, the Retreat from Mons and the Battle of the Marne. He died of wounds received during the First Battle of the Aisne (13–28 September 1914) just three weeks after setting foot in France. The outcome of the battle was indecisive but there were 13,500 British casualties, including William and the battle heralded the beginning of trench warfare. William's body was never found and the Memorial where he is remembered, commemorates 3,740 officers and men of the British Expeditionary Force who fell at the battles of Mons, Le Cateau, the Marne and the Aisne between the end of August and early October 1914 and have no known graves.

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/