148082 Cpl. William George King British Army 6th Btn. Ox & Bucks Light Infantry from:Wolverton My Dad, William King, joined up in Wolverton on 14 November 1914, aged almost 21. He first went to France in April 1915 as, having previously been in Wolverton TA, he was classed as an experienced soldier. I believe he was involved in the battle of Festubert south of Vimy Ridge in the Bethune area. I am currently trying to find out where else he was whilst in Ox & Bucks Light Infantry. He left them in 1917 after being recommended for a commission. He did his officer's training at Bristol University.
He was commissioned in April 1918 & joined the Rifle Brigade. A war diary entry for September 1918 shows he was among a group of 2nd Lieutenants who joined the regiment at a village in Northern France called Frevillers. The diarist described this village as "quite the nicest billet we have been in for many a long time, we have organised a sports day for the local children who run for pennies we throw to them". I, my husband and son have been privileged to have walked along the road running through this village where my father walked in September 1918 when he was just 24 years old.
He was injured some weeks later and demobbed in 1919 from Chiseldon in Wiltshire, only a few miles from where he would eventually spend the rest of his life.
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