205139 Pte. William Town British Army 1/6th Btn. Sherwood Foresters from:Albert Village, Ashby Woulds, Leics. (d.30th Apr 1917) William Town was my grandfather. He joined the 1st Derbyshire Yeomanry in 1914 and served in the Mediterranean and was invalided home. During his time convalescing he married my grandmother on 17th November 1916.
He was sent to Ireland and in December 1916 drafted into the Sherwood Foresters 1/6th Battalion, C Company and sent to France on 4th January 1917. He was seriously wounded in the legs, arms and jaw on the 23rd April 1917 at Fosse 3 de Leivin and died on the 30th April 1917. My father was born 6 weeks later on the 6th June 1917.
William is buried in a war grave at Wimereux Communal Cemetery France just outside Calais. I visited William's grave some years ago. It is one of the only war graves cemetery where the headstones lay flat due to the sandy soil. I found it a very emotional visit and was glad to see how well the graves were kept. My grandmother was re-married within the year her second husband served in the Northumberland Fusiliers and after he to was injured served in the Labour Corp. My father did not know his birth name until he was 14 years of age when both his mother and step-father died of TB within days of each other, having been brought up with his step-fathers name. All the above information has been gathered on and off over the last 15 years but I still yearn for more.
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