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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
CQSM. Gawin Wild MM.
British Army 26th Btn. Northumberland Fusillers
from:Littletown, Durham, England
Gawin Wild was born on the 17th of November 1891 .He enlisted with the Northumberland Fusiliers on the 11th December, 1914 as C.Q.S.M, Regimental No. 26/1310, who were part of the 3rd Tyneside Irish. He was award of the Military Medal for bravery in the field during the Battle of the Somme and for his exploits early on the morning of 1st of July 1916 when he rescued a superior officer. He was wounded in action in July 1916 and taken back to England to Stourbridge Military Hospital for treatment.
Whilst convalescing, C.Q.S.M Gawin Wild wrote a letter to Mary Elizabeth Hunter, the wife of his dear friend Jackie Hunter from his hospital bed telling her of her husband Jackie's death: "We got to the second line and the Germans gave us lots of machine gun fire and when I was within about 20 yards of a German machine gun. A bullet went through my hip and another through my arm. Jackie dragged me about ten yards to a shell-hole and just as he pushed me into the safety of the hole, he was shot through the head. A shell, bursting overhead lodged a piece of shrapnel in me, but I managed to crawl into a shell- hole. I was there for about sixteen hours and all while a lovely sun was burning down. Poor Jackie and I lay all that long burning day together in that shell-hole. You can imagine my feelings, lying there with one of my best chums was lying there dead an I was unable to do anything".
On his return to duty he was transferred to the Labour Corps as an A/C/Sgt., Regt. No. 476930.
The men of the Labour Corps overseas undertook any labouring task required of them. They built and repaired roads and railways, built defences, laid electricity and telephones cables, moved ammunition and stores and buried the dead. Some Companies were used in Forestry or Quarrying Work or to guard Prisoners of War. Other Companies looked after services in the towns and camps where the front line soldiers went for rest when not at the Front. These Companies were employed in the Divisional Baths, Laundry, de-lousing facility and at the Salvage Dump. They also provided men for guard duties, traffic control and catering duties as well as the Divisional Cinema and Theatre. In France & Belgium the men of the Labour Corps worked unarmed within the range of German guns. A Company would often work for weeks or even months at a time in the most dangerous conditions with only one days rest in every seven.
After the war he married Mathilde Georgette Rambout in 1919. On the 18 February 1925 he was appointed by the as Pro-Council at Dunkirk. After 1WW he was appointed to the Foreign Office as Pro-Council at Dunkirk on the February 18th, 1925 and Acting Vice-Council there in 1925, 1927, 1935 and 1936. He held the rank of Vice-Consul at Bordeaux in June 1940. He was appointed to the post of Vice-Consul at Algiers on the December 5th, 1942 and awarded the M.B.E. in the Kings birthday Honours List of the June 2nd, 1943 and was also presented with his honour by General Charles de Gaulle. After a period of working in the Foreign Office in New York and Nantes he retired on New Years Eve 1953.
Sgt. Harry Wild
British Army 5th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment
from:Padiham, Lancashire
(d.12th Apr 1917)
Sgt Harry Wild was fatally wounded during the attack on Monchy on or around 9th April 1917 and died of wounds at the clearing station based around Aubigny. He is buried in Aubigny Communal Extension cemetery. He was 32.
A weaver and chorister at Higham church near Padiham, he was already a Sergeant in the 1/5 East Lancs when war broke our and went with them to Egypt in Sept 1914. The regiment became part of the 42nd division which landed at Cape Hellas between 6-8 May 1915. He was wounded, apparently badly and evacuated to Egypt where he was hospitalised for some months. His return date to UK is not known but upon his return he became a recruitment sergeant in Burnley sometime late in 1916. He was granted a discharge as time served in early 1917 and went back to being a weaver.
It seems he got bored and decided to re-enlist in the 1st East Lancs in November 1917, retaining his rank of Sgt. He was shipped to France shortly after and the regiment was in support at the Battle of the Scarpe on the southern flank of Vimy Ridge. I've retraced the regiment's steps from Monreiul village where they left at 0500 on the morning of battle marching almost 12 miles to the front in winter conditions that froze soldiers to death. The regimental diaries talk of a group being hit by a shell which claimed 4 deaths and injured "12 other ranks including NCOs".
Sgt Harry Wild is commemorated on the East Lancs Memorial in Burnley and on the memorial in the grounds of Higham church. His headstone claims simply "One of the best".
Sgt. Harry Wild
British Army 1st Btn. East Lancashire Regiment
from:Padiham
(d.12th April 1917)
Harry Wild was a mill worker who joined the 5th E. Lancs as a territorial around 1905. By the outbreak of war in 1914 he had risen to the rank of Serjeant. He was also a chorister at Higham Church in Lancashire.
He saw service with 5th East Lancs in Egypt in 1914 before landing at Gallipolli and fighting at Krithia Vineyard. He was wounded, in the arm I believe from family stories, and invalided to Egypt. He returned to Padiham and was discharged as time served, returning to mill work in 1916.
After a few months, and seemingly missing military life, he re-enlisted in 1st East Lancs and was shipped to France in late 1917. The 1st E. Lancs were a reserve unit at the 1st Battles of the Scarpe, part of the Battle of Arras/Vimy Ridge and sometime on 10th April he was wounded. He was evacuated to the Casualty Clearing Station at Aubigny where he died of wounds two days later on 12th April, aged 32. He is buried in the Aubigny Community Extension cemetery.
He left a son, then aged 5, my father, who died never having visited his father's grave. I visited first in 1991 and a number of times since researching my grandfathers last days.
He is commemorated on the Padiham War Memorial and also on the small memorial in Higham churchyard. He was my grandfather and, with his great granddaughter, hope to commemorate the centenary of his death in April 1917 in Arras.
Sgt. Harry Wild
British Army 1/4th Btn. East Lancashire Regiment
from:2 Bright Street, Padiham
(d.12th April 1917)
Harry Wild was a 29 year old Sergeant in the 4th East Lancashire Territorial Regiment when war broke out in 1914 and embarked with the regiment to Egypt. He was wounded during the Battle of Krithia Vineyard and evacuated to hospital in Egypt. After convalescing he was returned to UK and posted as Recruitment Sergeant in Padiham before being discharged from 1/4th E. Lancs in mid 1916. He returned to life as a weaver in Padiham before re-enlisting in the 5th East Lancs in October 1916 retaining the rank of Sergeant.
The regiment went to France in November 1916 and was mobilised as a reserve unit for the Battles of Arras in April 1917. On 10th April the regiment moved from camp in Maroueil and entered line during that afternoon. In taking the German Effie trench later that day the regiment came under attack from artillery fire and lost an officer, 3 other ranks killed and 9 wounded. It is probable that Harry Wild was one of the wounded and he was evacuated to Aubigny-en-Artois Casualty Clearing station where he died of wounds on 12th April 1917.
He was survived by his wife Annie and son Fred, of Thomas Street, Burnley. Sgt Harry Wild is commemorated on the War Mmemorial in the grounds of St. John's Church, Higham, where he had been a chorister before the war.
Cpl. James Edward Wild
British Army 11th Battalion East Lancashire Regiment
from:Clayton Le Mo
(d.9th May 1917)
James Wild was my great uncle who was killed in action. He has no known resting place but I believe he was killed near Oppy Wood.
Pte. James Dearden Joseph Wild
British Army Manchester Regiment
Pte. John Tucker Wild
British Army 8th Btn South Lancashire Regiment
from:Stockport
(d.29th May 1918)
John Wild was wounded in May 1916 by shrapnel. He died in 1918 of pneumonia whilst still under treatment for his wounds. He is buried in Stockport (Willow Grove) Cemetery.
L/Cpl. Samuel Edmond Wild
British Army 1st Btn. A Coy. Leicestershire Regiment
from:Homerton, London
(d.15th Sept 1916)
Samuel Wild is my granddad's brother, he was too young to join the army so used the name William Wells. He died on the Somme trying to help a friend who had become entangled in the barbed wire. I am visiting France and the Somme this year.
Pte. Thomas William Wild
British Army 2nd Btn. Duke of Wellington's Regiment
from:Halifax, West Yorkshire
(d.16th July 1916)
Thomas Wild was the only son of Charles Frederick and Mary Wild and the brother of my great grandmother Clara Emma Lovack nee Wild. He was a casualty of the Battle of the Somme and is remembered in Doullens Communal Cemetery, France.
CQMS. William "Big Billy" Wild DSO.
British Army 26th Btn. Northumberland Fusillers
It was on the 10th Dec 1914 William Wild enlisted as a CQMS. Regt. No. 725 with the 26th Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers. The 1st-4th Tyneside Irish Battalions were Pals Battalions raised in Newcastle by the Lord Mayor and City on 14 November (1st), 9 November (2nd), 23 November 1914 (3rd) and 5 January 1915 (4th). In March 1915 they moved to Woolsington they formed 103rd (Tyneside Irish) Brigade, 34th Division in June 1915. They were taken over by the War Office on the 27 August 1915, moved to Salisbury Plain at the end of the month for further training before crossing over to France in January 1916.
During the attack on La Boiselle the battalion was under heavy machine gun fire all of the officers of his company were casualties, he took over command of what was left of the three platoons and led them on to complete their objective. He found the BattalionĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢s Adjutant, who was wounded, took over his papers and keeping in touch with the Battalion, returned to the wounded Adjutant and carried him to safety whilst under fire. On hearing that his brother Gawen had also been wounded, he searched for, found, and carried him under fire to safety. These brave acts resulted in the award of the Distinguished Conduct Medal.
He was also wounded in action and on return to duty he was transferred to the 27th, 26th, BattalionĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢s and was commissioned in to the Argyle & Southern Highlanders where he served until his discharge in April 1919.
Pte. William Wild
British Army 11th Btn. Sherwood Foresters
from:New Mills, Derbyshire
(d.23rd Oct 1918)
Pte. Joseph Wildblood
British Army 5th Btn. South Wales Borderers
from:Alsager, Cheshire
Joseph Wildblood served 1 year 9 months in France, then 1 year 9 months in Mesopotamia, 2 months in Egypt, 2 in months Salonica. Whilst in France Joseph also received a gun shot wound to his left eye 29th of July 1916 and a gun shot wound to his left shin on 6th Mar 1917. He entered France with the 5th Battalion on 17 July 1915 and transferred to the 4th Battalion on 22nd July 1917 in Mesopotamia. He contracted malaria whilst in Salonica in Jan 1919. He was classed as 30% disabled by the pensions board. Joseph died aged 64 years old in 1964.
Rflmn. George Richard Wilde
British Army 9th (Queen Victoria Rifles) Battalion London Regiment
from:95 York Street, Marylebone, London
(d.29th Nov 1917)
Pte. James Wilde
Machine Gun Corps 205th Coy. 5th Battalion
from:Bolton, Lancs
My father James Wilde was called up April 1918 and joined the Border Regiment but transferred to the Machine Gun Corps. In the Borders he had done some training at Altcar Range. I was there 39 years later with the REME. After training he went to France. On their first day they walked 11 miles in the sunshine but on the second they did 26 miles because it was raining. He was 29 years old. In the trenches they were nearly always in water and sometimes slept in more than a foot of water. They had very little food and once their daily amount was half a loaf and a jar of jam between 6 of them. They broke the bread up added water and the jam and boiled it up like soup. It was too sweet to eat.
Some time in the middle of Oct. He was working his way through the tranches, he fell back and trying to rise he thought he had sat in water and then knew it was his blood. A slinter shell had exploded near him and removed 4 inches of his femur. In Grantham Hospital he was 11 months on his back with pulleys and sand bags waiting for his bones to grow together.
They needed money to spend so 200 of them lined up for 10s. My father wanted to read what they were signing for but the quarter master would not give them time and later they all found they had signed for a pound. Most of the men also found out that they had all been charged for loosing their uniforms in France. He did not get out of the army until 1920. He had constant medicals on his leg which was as thick as my wrist in his thigh and it would not be any different so he refused to take further medicals so they reduced his pension from 100% to 60%. He was qualified unfit for work. At 65 he applied for the OAP. He was told because he had no stamps on his card he did not qualify. He died in Dec. 1963
Pte. William Stanley Wilde
British Army 4th Btn. Royal Welsh Fusiliers
from:Wrexham
(d.7th Apr 1915)
William Stanley Wilde, Private 6315, enlisted Wrexham and served in the 4th Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He died of wounds age 24 on the 7th April 1915 and is remembered at Jarrow Library and is buried in Boulonge Eastern Cemetery. His medal card records the award of the 1914 Star, War and Victory Medals also that he died of wounds.
William was born in Wrexham 1891 and his sister was Mrs Lilian Watt of 40 Northbourne Road, Jarrow. His father Joseph then 37 was a gas stoker from Oldham. His mother Elizabeth L then 32 was from Oxford. In the 1911 census the remainder of the family was living at 33 Hightown Road, Wrexham with the eldest sister Elizabeth Louise(31) single, as head of family, housekeeper, Thomas Henry(22)single, a gas labourer, William Stanley(20) single, a labourer as is George Albert(18). Lilian Alice (13) and Frances May(10) are both attending school.
O/S George J Wilders
Royal Navy HMS Hyacinth
from:Loughborough
George Wilders served with the Royal Navy aboard HMS Hyacinth in WW1.
Cpl Frank Wilderspin
British Army 2nd Btn Suffolk Regiment
from:Histon
Private, then Lance Corpo George Wilding Mons Star
British Army 7th (Service) South Lancashire
from:Island House, Anderton, Cheshire
(d.22nd/23rd Nov 1916)
George Wilding was my brave great uncle, the only one of 5 brothers to be killed in action. He's buried at the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery on The Somme. I wish I knew more about the circumstances of his death but assume it related to the fighting around High Wood.
He had been made a lance corporal on 8 March 1916 and had been injured in the February of the same year, when he accidentally grabbed a bayonet, whilst trying to break a fall from a parapet. He was 22.
Pte. John Edward Wilding
British Army 10th Btn. Lancashire Fusiliers
from:Northwich, Cheshire, England
(d.25th Aug 1918)
John Edward Wilding (born in 1901) was a soldier in the 10th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers in the 52nd Brigade of the 17th (Northern) Division. He was killed in action, aged 16, during the second Battle of Bapaume, a phase of the second Battle of the Somme in August 1918. He is buried at the Adanac Military Cemetery, Miraumont, France.
Pte. Thomas Wilding
British Army 13th Btn. Middlesex Regiment
from:Middlesex
(d.5th Apr 1917)
Tommy Wilding was a cousin of mine. He was born in 1897 and his father, Arthur Wilding, was also a soldier. His mother was Annie Hickman, who died following his birth. He grew up in South Mimms with his grandparents Mark and Harriot Hickman. Later he lived in Kilburn with his aunt Fanny Gerkin and Will Gerkin. I do not know if his father Arthur Wilding was also killed in action or if he lived to remarry, which might have given Tommy some half-siblings. Tommy Wilding was first cousin to my mother and the love of her life.
He joined up in September 1914 aged just 17 and was 19 when he was killed. He is buried in Fosse no.10 Communal Cemetery Extension, Sains-en-Gohelle, Calais. I would like to know more about him and to honour and remember him, especially as there may be no other relative to do it.
WO. Arthur Frank "Frederick" Wildman DCM
British Army 14th Battalion Tank Corps
from:Canterbury, Kent
My Grandfather Arthur Wildman never spoke of the War or of his decoration so I have researched this and it's accuracy is therefore dependent on that alone.
He firstly joined the East Kent Buffs Regiment (no. 200866) and then transferred to the East Lancs. Regiment (no. 235357) prior to 1916 He then joined the Tanks Corps and to quote the "Tank Corps Book of Honour" helped in the capture of Rosieres, France. To do this as an N.C.O. and as a commander of his tank he worked his way around the rear of the battery of two field guns which had been holding up the tanks and had already accounted for one tank. He opened fire on this battery and accounted for most of the crews, putting both guns out of action. He then proceeded to Rosieres village, where he cleared a considerable portion of the village machine-gun nests. Though severely wounded he brought his tank out of action, reporting to his section commander before proceeding to the dressing station.
Dvr. Harry Wildman
British Army 4th Div. Train Army Service Corps
(d.5th Apr 1918)
Pnr. James Thomas Wildman
British Army 3rd Signal Coy. Royal Engineers
from:Ampthill
(d.6th July 1918)
James Wildman, son of Charles T & Annie Wildman, Arthur Street, Ampthill, Bedfordshire, lived in Ampthill and enlisted in Bedford. He served with 3rd Signal Company, Royal Engineers and died on 6th July 1918 in England age 30 years and is buried in St. Andrews Churchyard. He is remembered on both The War Memorial and The Alamada, St. Andrews Church, Ampthill. Information courtesy of www.roll-of-honour.com
Pte. Ralph Wile
British Army 20th (Tyneside Scottish) Btn. Northumberland Fusiliers
from:North Shields
(d.1st July 1916)
Ralph Wile was one of the victims of the Somme, only 19 when he died. He has no known grave, and is listed on the Theipval Memorial under the surname Wyle. Still remembered by his family.
Pte. John Dickinson Wilerton
British Army 6th Btn. Lincolnshire Regiment
(d.7th Jun 1917)
Pte. Cecil Wiles
British Army 21st Battalion Kings Royal Rifles Corps
(d.8th Jul 1916)
Cecil was not called up as he was in a "protected occupation" as the eldest son of a farmer. However one Sunday morning outside the village church in West Pinchbeck a woman from the village thrust three white feathers into his breast pocket. He resolved to join up and left his wife of three months. He was killed six months later.
Sgt. Frederick Walter Wiles
British Army 14th (London Scottish) Btn. London Regiment
from:Sittingbourne
(d.21st Aug 1918)
Frederick Wiles was the son of Walter Edward and Annie E. Wiles, of 3 Claxfield, Sittingbourne, Kent. He is buried in Locre Cemetery.
S/Sjt. William George Wiles
British Army 3rd Battalion Middlesex Regiment
from:Mill Hill
I am led to believe that my great grandfather, William George Wiles enlisted into the Middlesex Regiment in 1907 and comparing the very limited information passed down to me about his service history with what I have researched about the regiment thus far, I think he probably served in the 3rd Battalion (Regulars) for the duration of the Great War. I am told the photograph was taken while he served in India with his battalion from 1911 until 1915 when he and the 3rd Battalion moved to the Western Front. However, the photograph shows him as a Serjeant which makes me question the India connection. By the end of the war he was a Staff Serjeant and like many servicemen received the 1914-15 Star alongside the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal which ties in with the deployment of the 3rd Battalion but I think the photo was probably taken sometime from the second half of the war when his battalion was in battle with the Bulgarians in Macedonia. I wish I knew more.
Editors Update: The rank badges in the photograph indicate he is a Staff Sergeant and he has three war service stripes on his cuff (one for each year served in the war) so it must have been taken in 1917 or later.
Cpl. Harold Whitewood Wilinson
British Army 8th (Leeds Rifles) Btn. West Yorkshire Regiment
This photograph shows a section of the 8th Leeds Rifles where my Grandfather is the Corporal Harold Wilinton. There is a wooden hut in the background which may be on the then open ground above Barrack Street in Leeds. There is no date on the photo but when I was a young boy I recollect a number of things: The first was that he, or my other grandfather, said 'Getting Gassed saved my life' He certainly suffered some injury because he was evacuated home.
Then it gets very confusing. What I know is that he later served in Palestine but the 8th Leeds Rifles did not serve there. My Grandfather managed to find, and send back, some small ancient artefacts some of which I remember being accredited to him in the York Museum. Then it gets even more sketchy. He was either a member, or attached to the RFC. More specifically his photographic skills were used. I can remember him showing me a box full of un-fixed glass photographic plate slides that showed aerial views of the land below. He also explained that the box was made from aircraft plywood and covered in aircraft canvas. Then to add to that, in his possession he had both an RFC cap badge as well as and RAF one.
Pte. C. Wilkes
British Army 24th (Tyneside Irish) Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers
from:Littletown
C Wilks served with the Tyneside Irish and transferred to the Machine Gun Corps.
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