243354 Pte. William Thomas Chorley British Army 12th Battalion Somerset Light Infantry from:Isle Abbots Will Chorley was my father who, tragically, died three months before I was born. Formerly of the West Somerset Yeomanry, William Thomas Chorley enlisted at Taunton on the 11th of November 1914, and I am aware that with the Yeomanry he served in the Middle East participating in the various campaigns in this theatre, he was in Jerusalem in January 1918 for I have in my collection of his papers his certificate of confirmation, signed by the Bishop of Jerusalem on the 17th of January 1918. His discharge paper shows he transferred to the 12th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry and, I assume, would have arrived on the Western Front in May 1918.
My late mother, told me that while in France he was quite seriously wounded in the thigh and although on his discharge he returned to prewar work as a farm labourer, he walked with a limp for the rest of his relatively short life. His actual discharge is dated 3rd of March 1919, as being no longer physically fit for military service; the document is markerd 'Wound Stripes' One, Chevrons 3 Blue. Any information that you may be able to impart relating to his military service - particularly the actions involving the 12th Battalion in France, will be most welcome.
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