Name
William Batchelor (MM)
3 March 1894
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
27/08/1918
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Serjeant
14124
Bedfordshire Regiment
4th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Military Medal
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
BEAULENCOURT BRITISH CEMETERY, LIGNY-THILLOY
IV. G. 29.
France
Headstone Inscription
None
UK & Other Memorials
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial, St Mary's Church Memorial, Hemel Hempstead, Holy Trinity Church Wall Memorial, Potten End
Pre War
William Batchelor was born on 3 March 1894 in Hemel Hempstead, the son of Richard and Caroline Batchelor, and one of 11 children. He was baptised on the 3 October 1894 at Hemel Hempstead.
His father died in 1898 in and on the 1901 Census he was living with his widowed mother and 6 siblings at 6 Boxted Cottages, Hemel Hempstead.
He left school in 1907 and, like his brothers worked as an agricultural labourer until the outbreak of war. He remained living at home at 6 Boxted Cottages on the 1911 Census, along with his widowed mother and brothers Harold, Charley, Herbert and Arthur.
Wartime Service
He enlisted in Bedford and joined the 4th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment at the end of August 1914, and went for basic training at Felixstowe. He was then posted to the 2nd Battalion and arrived with a group of 76 other recruits in France on 9 April 1915, joining the Battalion on 27 April 1915 near Neuve Chappelle.
He was wounded in the shoulder by shrapnel and missed the Battle of Festubert. The seriousness of his injury is unknown but he may have been sent back to England to recover. When he returned to France he was again posted to the 4th Battalion.
By February 1917 William had been promoted to Lance Corporal and fought in the Second Battle of the Scarpe and the second Battle of Passchendaele, where the Battalion suffered heavy casualties. He was awarded the Military Medal for bravery for his actions during the First Battles of the Somme in 1918, either at the Battle of St Quentin or the Battle of Baupame, the details of which are unknown. The Battalion's war diary for 14 April 1918 records that William and four other soldiers were awarded the Military Medal. He was then promoted to Corporal and by August he was Sergeant.
He was killed in action in France on 27 August 1918 during operations near Thilloy when the battalion were exposed to very heavy enemy machine gun fire but also suffered from their own shells falling short. He is buried at Beaulencourt British Cemetery, France.
Additional Information
His mother received a war gratuity of £26 and pay owing of £3 5s 8d. Brother to Corporal Harold Batchelor who died in France on 30 April 1915 and is also named on the Potten End memorial. Brother to Alfred Batchelor, Suffolk Regiment, who died 9 April 1917 and is named on the Great Gaddesden War Memorial. His mother received a war gratuity of £6 and pay owing of £14 2s 0d, She also received a pension of 5 shillings a week.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.dacorumheritage.org.uk, www.roll-of-honour.com, www.hemelheroes.com.
