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Pte. William Porter MM.
British Army King's Liverpool Regiment
from:51 Chatham Rd, Birkdale, Southport, Lancs
Private William Porter was born in Scarisbrick, Lancashire in 1886, the son of Robert and Mary Porter. Before the war he worked as a watch repairer for Connard’s the Jewellers of Lord St Southport, and his employers appealed for an exemption on his behalf, when he received his call up papers in 1916. The outcome of the appeal to the local Tribunal, held on 23 may 1916, was reported in the Southport Visiter the following day thus: “A firm of watchmakers on Lord Street asked the Tribunal to grant temporary exemption to Wm Porter (Group 35), a married man who had four children. It was stated that he was the only man they had left to carry on the repairing of watches, and on average they had ten watches from the trenches every week. The appeal was refused"
Following the dismissal of the appeal, he subsequently joined the King’s Liverpool Regiment, and in 1918 he was awarded the Military Medal , the award appearing in the London Gazette , dated 7 October, 1918. He survived the war and resumed his career as a watch repairer. He died in 1957.
