Beckett, William Edwin

Age: 18
Date of birth: 1st September 1899

Parents: William Edwin and Mary Beckett (nee Reynolds)
Wife: Single
Address: 11 North Rock, Saltisford

Occupation:

William was born on 1st September 1899. He was the eldest boy in a family of six children. He had two older sisters Ellen (Nellie) and Edith, a younger sister, Marjorie, and two younger brothers Francis and Harry.

According to the census of 1901 his father, also William, was a gas stoker and the family were living at 13 North Rock, Saltisford. By the 1911 census, William’s two younger brothers had been born and the family had moved to No. 11 North Rock, which is also the address William Senior gave when submitting a Shrine Slip for William’s inclusion in the War Memorial. In 1911 William was still at school but his elder sisters were working, Ellen (14) as a general servant and Edith (13) in a cigar factory.

 

Military Service

Rank & Number: Private, G/68839
Regiment/Service: 1st/24th (County of London) Battalion, (The Queens) The London Regiment
Brigade/Division: 142nd Brigade, 47th Division
Date of death: Thursday, August 22, 1918
Cause of death/Battle: Killed in Action - Battle of Albert
Commemorated/Buried: Vis-en-Artois, Pas de Calais
Awards: British War Medal, Victory Medal
Commemorated locally at:

 

 

William had only been on the front a few days when he was killed.  His application to appear on the Warwick War Memorial was completed by his father

Contributors

  • Unlocking Warwick Research Group
  • Warwick Advertiser excerpts and copy of Shrine application courtesy of Warwickshire County Record Office

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