William Edward Smith

A Private with 2nd Bn., William died on 4th of November 1914 at the age of 38. 

William was born at Fulham. His service details from the First World War suggest that he was born in 1876, but service papers from his first enlistment in the Army show that he was actually born on 9 January 1873. He was a son of Jemima Smith. 

William enlisted in the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, number 2269, at Fort Royal, Jersey, on 13 January 1888, age 15 years. When he enlisted he stated that he was a musician. From 1888 to 1896 William served as a drummer with the 1st Battalion. William served in the Boer War from December 1899 to January 1901 and was involved in the 'Defence of Kimberley'. In January 1901 he was discharged, having completed his engagement, and his intended place of residence was 81 Cambridge Road, Lowestoft. 

William married Elizabeth Harriet Wood, at Lowestoft, in 1905. In 1911 William, Elizabeth, and children, lived at 12 Laundry Lane, Lowestoft, and William worked as a stoker at the electricity power station.   

During the First World War William volunteered to serve in the Army and he joined the Suffolk Regiment, enlisting at Lowestoft. Technically he was a 'Special Reserve' soldier which means that in some records his service number has the prefix '3'. He was posted to the 2nd Battalion and arrived in France on 10 October 1914. He was one of the fifth group of reinforcements posted to the 2nd Battalion. The battalion had been all but wiped out at Le Cateau on 26 August 1914 and it took almost two months to bring the battalion to full strength again. 

From late October 1914 the 2nd Battalion were in trenches near Champigny. The Battalion's War Diary for 4 November 1914 records that three men, including William, were 'killed in trenches'. William has no known grave, but was probably buried close to where he was killed.

After the war Elizabeth lived at 35 Stevens Street, Lowestoft.