Name
William Arthur Woollams
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
13/03/1917
22
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Rifleman
322074
London Regiment (City of London Rifles) *1
6th Bn. *1
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
LIJSSENTHOEK MILITARY CEMETERY
XI. B. 37.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Croxley Green Village Memorial, Croxley Green, All Saints' Church Shrine, Croxley Green, John Dickinson & Co Memorial, Croxley Mills, Croxley Green, Rickmansworth Urban District Memorial
Pre War
William and his parents, Joseph and Mary Rose Woollams lived at 231 New Road. William, like his father, was born in Croxley Green and worked at Croxley Mills. He was a paper cutter. He was born on 19 February 1895 and christened on 19 August 1906 in Croxley Green.
In 1911 he had five brothers and a sister. His older brother Joseph was killed the following year. After his death the army paid his mother £11 10s 5d including a war gratuity of £7.
Recorded as enlisting in London.
Wartime Service
13 March 1917 William Arthur Woollams died of wounds. Service number 322074, previously 4734 in the 6th London regiment. He is buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, near Poperinghe, Belgium, alongside almost 10,000 others.
Lijssenthoek village was the location of casualty clearing stations for soldiers fighting on the front line near Ypres. Rifleman Woollams served in 'A' Company of the 6th Battalion (City of London) Rifles, London Regiment. He was 22 when he died.
In February and early March, the battalion was in the line at Hill 60 near Ypres. They carried out a successful raid on enemy trenches on 20th February which may have been when he was fatally wounded.
Additional Information
Younger brother of Lance Corporal Joseph Woollams who was killed in action on 30 Sep 1918 and who is also commemorated on these UK memorials.
*1 Probably more correctly (City of London) Bn. London Regiment (Rifles).
Acknowledgments
Brian Thomson, Croxley Green in the First World War Rickmansworth Historical Society 2014, Brian Thomson
