Name
(William) Oscar Littlewood
1895
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
15/07/1916
21
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
STK/1045
London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers)
10th Bn.
'D' Coy.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
THIEPVAL MEMORIAL
Pier/Face 8C.
France
Headstone Inscription
N/A
UK & Other Memorials
Stevenage Old Town Memorial,
St Nicholas' Church Memorial, Stevenage Old Town,
Holy Trinity Church Memorial Roll of Honour, Stevenage Old Town,
Diocese - Book of Remembrance, St Albans Cathedral, St Albans,
Diocese of St Albans - ROH, St Albans Cathedral, St Albans,
Not on the Hadley Wood memorials,
St Lawrence College WW1 Tablet, Memorial Chapel, Ramsgate, Kent
Pre War
William Oscar Littlewood was born in 1895 in Hadley Wood, New Barnet, Hertfordshire, the son of Edward William & Priscilla Mary Littlewood (nee Ward). His parents had married in 1894 in Monken Hadley, nr Barnet and he was their only child.
On the 1901 Census the family were living at Deepdene, Hadley Crescent, Enfield, Herts where his father was working as a wine merchant. They remained at the same address in 1911 but William was not listed with them and was away at school at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate.
The family later moved to a house named Hadleycote in Stevenage.
Wartime Service
William enlisted in London and joined the Royal Fusiliers, serving with the 10th Battalion (unofficially known as the Stockbrokers Battalion) in France from 31 July 1915.
The Battalion were given orders to support an attack on the village of Pozieres and at 9am on 15 July 1916 they set off from an area known as Sausage Valley. Prior to their assault there had been a very heavy artillery bombardment in an effort to clear the area of German troops. However, the Germans were very well dug in to their positions and the barrage had little effect on them. As the British troops approached they were met with very heavy machine gun fire and, despite some gallant efforts, they were eventually forced to call off their initial attack. A Battalion HQ had been set up in a chalk pit on the road between Baliff Wood and Pozieries and it was here that the British commanders decided to attempt a further assault on the village. Initially, there would be a heavy artillery barrage to “soften up” the German defences then a rocket would be fired to signal the infantry assault. At 5pm the artillery barrage rained down on the tiny village causing complete devastation. However, the German troops again survived the assault in their fortified positions and were soon in place once the barrage had lifted. Unfortunately, the rocket flares had become damp and would not ignite and subsequently some of the British troops moved off whilst others remained in place, still awaiting the signal. This delay resulted in the attack becoming disjointed and the Germans brought devastating machine gun fire to bear on the assaulting troops, resulting in very heavy casualties.
The attack failed, and the men of the Battalion began to drift back to a position at Tara Usna Hill, but it was not until 2am on 16 July that the last men reached this point.
William was one of the men killed in action during the attack and death was presumed on or since 15 July 1916. He has no known grave and his name is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France.
Additional Information
His father received a war gratuity of £8 10s and pay owing of £4 1s 4d.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Paul Johnson, stevenageatwar.com
