239780 Pte. William Albert Knight British Army 1st Btn. South Staffordshire from:107 Winfield Street, Rugby, Warwickshire (d.13th May 1917) I am a member of the Rugby Family History Group researching some of the men whose names are on the Rugby War Memorial Gates. One of these is William Albert Knight, named as Albert in the 1901 census.
He was born in Northampton in 1895, the second of the four children of George Walter and Sarah Dudley (nee Markham) who were married in Northampton in 1892. They were living at 6 Richmond Street, but moved to Rugby some years later, probably when their eldest son started work, and were at 107 Winfield Street in 1911. By this time their father was an invalid, but Albert and his brother George were working for British Thompson Houston (BTH) in Rugby as respectively capstan hand and armature winder.
Albert enlisted in Rugby before conscription was introduced as his medal card states he was sent to France in December 1915. His Regiment was heavily involved in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, and he was probably killed in the Action at Bullecourt on 13 May 1917, although he may have been wounded prior to this as he was buried at Achiet-le-Grand Communal Cemetery Extension, which from April 1917 according to the CWGC had been occupied by a couple of Casualty Clearing Stations.
He is commemorated on the BTH memorial in Rugby as well as the Memorial Gates.
|