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204532 Pte. William Thomas Royle 4th Btn. from:Blackburn, Lancashire (d.23 March 1918) William Thomas Royle was born in Rochdale in 1891. In 1911 he married Mary Ann Hall from Blackburn. Billy and Polly, as they were known, settled in Blackburn and had three daughters Elizabeth (Betty), Jane (Jenny) and Sarah (Sally). When the First World War broke out, Billy was working as a painter's labourer. As family members, friends and colleagues signed up as volunteers Billy said he was not going to fight until he had to because he had a wife and three children to care for. One day, opening his lunch box at work, Billy found a white feather. White feathers were given to men, mostly by women, as a sign of their cowardice in not joining up. Originally given by society women to their better off boyfriends when they wanted to get rid of them, the practise was adopted around the country by other classes. Some men actually started wearing badges stating that they were in reserved occupations to avoid being presented with the white feather. On his way home from work that day Billy went to Canterbury St Barracks in Blackburn, signed up and went home to announce what he had done. Billy was a member of the 4th Battalion East Lancs Regiment. In early 1918 he came home on leave. When he had left home to return to Barracks at Colchester, Polly noticed he had left his dogtag on the windowsill. Bill's brother in law, who was returning to Colchester the next day said he would take it with him. When he arrived in Colchester, Billy had gone, posted overseas. On March 23rd 1918, in the early hours of the morning, the 4th Battalion East Lancs Regiment was in the trenches of the Somme, waiting for the order to go over the top. Billy, as lookout was one of the first to go. Billy was killed as he went on the offensive, his body was never identified and he remains missing to this day. Billy is commemorated on the memorial to the missing at Pozieres in Northern France At the end of the war, when the soldiers returned to parade through Blackburn, Polly went along with her mother Sarah. She saw a soldier, who from behind she thought was her Billy. He was Walter Peace and Polly later married him His story was told to me by his daughter Jane, who was my grandma, and by my great-gran Polly. Please type your message:      We recommend you copy the text about this item and keep a copy on your own computer before pressing submit. Your Name:             Email Address:       @ **Please put first part of your email, (before the @ sign) in the first box, and the second part in the second box. Do not include @, it is automatic. Do not enter your full email in each box or add an @ sign or random spaces.**