The Battalion arrived at Boulogne on the 14/08/1914 and were part of the 5th Brigade, 2nd Division. William died of peritonitis at the 45th Casualty Clearing Station in Achiet-le-Grand, France. The news of William's death reached home on his 23rd birthday. He was about to train for a Commission. He had visited home just 1 month before his death and after 15 months in the firing line. William's Battalion was involved in the capture of Bourlon Wood, 23rd - 28th November 1917 and the German counter attack, 30th November - 3rd December 1917. These Battles were part of the Cambrai operations, (Battle of Cambrai), 20th November - 30th December 1917 : A British attack, originally conceived as a very large scale raid, that employed new artillery techniques and massed tanks. Initially very successful with large gains of ground being made, but German reserves brought the advance to a halt. Ten days later, a counter-attack regained much of the ground. Ultimately a disappointing and costly outcome, but Cambrai is now seen by historians as the blueprint for the successful "Hundred Days" offensives of 1918. Grave photo kindly donated by Mick McCann at the British War Graves website who supply photos FREE OF CHARGE
here. See photos for William's Medal Index Card, his Newspaper clipping, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects x 2, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, his CWGC Grave Registration x 2, his Headstone Report x 2, Achiet-le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension, William's Pension Records x 4 and the Highland Light Infantry Cap Badge. William's grave inscription reads "SWEET JESUS GRANT MY BELOVED BROTHER ETERNAL PEACE PRIEZ POUR LUI".
