Name
William Ambrose
1890
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
03/07/1917
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Serjeant
3636
Machine Gun Corps (Infantry)
51st Coy.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
BAILLEUL ROAD EAST CEMETERY, ST. LAURENT-BLANGY
V. A. 2.
France
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial, St Mary's Church Memorial, Hemel Hempstead, John Dickinson & Co Memorial, Apsley Mills, Apsley, We are not aware of any memorial in Piccotts End
Pre War
William Ambrose (known as Will) was born in 1890 in Piccotts End, Hemel Hempstead, the son of William and Sarah Ambrose. He was one of 10 children, two of which died in infancy.
On the 1891 Census the family were living at 45 Piccotts End, Hemel Hempstead, where his father was working as a general labourer.
They had moved to 8 Chapel Street by 1901 and his father gave his occupation as Painter. The family remained Chapel Street on the 1911 Census.
He played football as a full-back for Hemel Hempstead Wednesday and was given the nickname 'Weary' by his team mates. He also played for Apsley Mills 'Sundries' departmental team, when he went to work at John Dickinson & Co Ltd and was a member of the winning team of the 'Uncle's Cup' in 1913 (an inter-departmental football tournament).
Wartime Service
He left Dickinsons at the end of August 1914 and initially enlisted into the Bedfordshire Regiment along with his childhood friend Frederick Gurney.
He transferred to the Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) 51st Company when he went to France and was promoted to Sergeant, leading his own gun team. He was killed in action on 3 July 1917, age 27, when a shell fell into the trench where he and his gun team were in position near Arras.
He was initially buried at Northumberland Cemetery, Fampoux, but was 'concentrated' and reinterred at Balleul Road East Cemetery, France.
Additional Information
His mother received a war gratuity of £14 10s and pay owing of £12 3s 11d. She also received a pension of 5 shillings a week. His father died soon after William's death, being buried on 4 August 1917. The local newspaper published a letter from his friend Fred Gurney, who said "I have lost my best pal". (see hemelheroes.com). His cousins Joseph and Reginald Walter Ambrose also died in 1917 and are named on the Hemel Hempstead memorial.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.hemelheroes.com., www.dacorumheritage.org.uk., www.hemelatwar.org.
