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Able Sea. William Charles Williams VC MID
Royal Navy HMS Hussar
from:Chepstow, Mon
(d.25th April 1915)
William Williams was killed in action on the 25th of April 1915, aged 34. Commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval memorial in Portsmouth, he was the son of the late William and Elizabeth Williams, of Chepstow, Mon.
An extract from the London Gazette, No. 29264, dated 13th Aug., 1915, records the following:-"Held on to a line in the water for over an hour under heavy fire, until killed."
This action took place at Cape Helles in the Dardanelles campaign. Able Seaman Williams, at the time, was temporarily attached to HMS River Clyde which was a former collier vessel converted to a troop landing ship. The ship was beached under the Sedd el Bahr castle. Under heavy fire from the Turkish defenders the troop landings were a costly failure. A total of 6 Victoria Crosses were awarded to naval personnel (posthumously in the case of Able Seaman Williams) for maintaining the bridge from ship to beach and recovering wounded soldiers.
