Name
William Odell
1885
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
23/03/1918
33
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
19774
Northamptonshire Regiment
6th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
POZIERES MEMORIAL
Panel 54 to 56.
France
Headstone Inscription
N/A
UK & Other Memorials
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial, St Mary's Church Memorial, Hemel Hempstead
Pre War
William Odell was born in 1885 in Hemel Hempstead, the son of William and Sarah Odell, and baptised on 21 May 1885 at St Mary's Church, Hemel Hempstead. He was one of seven children., although his sister Mabel, died in early childhood.
On the 1891 Census the family were living at 19 Cherry Bounce, Hemel Hempstead, where his father was working as a labourer. They had moved to 102 High Street, Hemel Hempstead by 1901 where his father was a painter and William was a box maker at the Paper Mill.
William left school in 1898 to begin work at John Dickinson & Co Ltd at Apsley Mills, where his sister Lily and brother Thomas already worked. He worked there as a Box Maker and another sister Annie joined the factory in 1901 doing the same job.
He met fellow worker Louisa Tearle at Dickinsons and they married in St Paul's Church, Hemel Hempstead on 2 January 1905. Their son Horace William was born exactly one month later and baptised on 5 March 1905. Percy followed in 1908. On the 1911 Census they were living with their two children Horace and Percy, at No. 6 Chapel Street, Hemel Hempstead, where William was working as a labourer at the Paper Mill.
They later had a daughter, Rosedew in January 1915, followed by a son Aubrey Cecil in January 1916 but he died in December 1918 a few months after his father. The family then lived at 82 High Street, Hemel Hempstead.
Wartime Service
William enlisted in Watford in December 1915 and served with the 6th Northamptonshire Regiment, although it is not known when he was sent to France.
He fought in the Third Battle of the Scarpe, part of the Arras Offensive, in 1917, followed by the Battle of Pilckem Rige, Langemarck, and the First and Second Battles of Passchendaele in October and November.
He was missing, presumed killed in action on or since 23 March 1918 at the Battle of St Quentin, aged 33. He has no known grave and his name is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial, France.
Additional Information
His widow received a war gratuity of £10 and pay owing of £13 2s 9d. She also received a pension of £1 9s 7d a week for herself and their 3 children.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, ww.dacorumheritage.org.uk., www.hemelheroes.com. www.hemelatwar.org.
