209458 Pte William Henry Conroy British Army 11th Battalion Cheshire Regiment from:New Brighton, Wirral, Merseyside (d. 7th July 1916) William Henry Conroy 16550, was my Great Grandfather. My mother's mother, who we called Nan, was William's daughter. It was always thought that William died on the Somme and that he had no grave. This was until two years ago in 2010, when I discovered that he was injured on the 4th July 1916, when nearly all of his battalion were "melted away" by machine gun fire. He was casevacd to the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station at Puchevillers in Northern France. Sadly, he died of his wounds some days later on the 7th July. By being injured he, unlike the hundreds of men that were shot with him on that dreadful 4th July was guaranteed a burial and headstone at Lutyens's cemetery at Puchevillers, which was erected just across the track from the CCS location.
William Henry Conroy 16550 volunteered to fight the moment the war began, he was 35 years of age, employed and the father of five children. He was not expected to fight at his age and family position, nevertheless he marched forward. On arriving in France, Sept 1915, he was sent to Belgium border at Ypres or "wipers" and was involved in Ploegstreet wood fighting. His wife never remarried and wore black till she died in the early 1960's.
Clearly this man was immensely brave, given that he had seen the worst of fighting in Belgium, then seeing the first 3 days of the Somme, then going into battle himself on the 4th. My Brother Corporal Stewart Peter Frank McLaughlin, 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment was killed aged 27 just after the capture of Mount Longdon ,Falkland Islands 1982, he too was incredibly brave and was cited for a Victoria Cross, sadly it appears the citation was lost in transit to the Awards Committee. On visiting William's Grave on November 11th 2010, I discovered that in the grave next to his lies a young man named Stewart, aged 27 years of age.
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