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TheLoyal North Lancashire Regiment,
Killed in Action,
17th October 1918,
Age 31
Buried Busigny Communal Cemetery Extension.
William Anderson was born in Baxenden in 1887 and was baptised at Baxenden Methodist Church. He was the son of William and Margaret Anderson. In 1901 William was living at 682, Industrial Terrace, Rising Bridge, with his parents, brothers John and Thomas and sisters Rhoda, Margaret, Sarah, Mary Alice, and Florence. William was aged 13 at that time and was employed as a cotton weaver. On 4 January 1913 he married Annie Parkinson at St. John’s Church, Baxenden. His address at that time was 3, Hazel Street, Rising Bridge and his occupation was that of a spinner. On 11 September 1914 William and Annie had a son, Alan, who was baptised on 7 January 1915 at Baxenden Methodist Chapel. At that time they lived at 500, Manchester Road, Baxenden. Before the war William was a member of the St. John Ambulance Brigade in Accrington. He originally enlisted in the East Lancashire Regiment (40998) but was later transferred to the Loyal North Lancashire's. He was killed in action on Thursday 17 October 1918. He was 31 years old.
The following letter from Major-General E. P. Strickland, commanding the 1st Division shows the appreciation shown to the 1st Battalion, the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment just before William’s death.
“It gives me particular pleasure to forward the attached, and to express my admiration of the fine spirit shown by the 1st Loyal North Lancashire and the 1st Cameron Highlanders on this occasion. Nor is this the only occasion on which they have very materially assisted other divisions, in addition to carrying out their own task; their action at Sequehart showed a fine soldierly spirit and unselfish and wholehearted devotion to duty. Any troops may well be glad to be associated with them in action.”
During the operations commencing in September and enduring until the end of October, the losses suffered by the Battalion appear to have been heavier than any other period of the war; when fighting was practically continuous, and the periods of rest, during which no man was safe from the German long-range guns, were but short, it does not always seem to have been possible for the casualties to be fully recorded in the Battalion War Diary as they occurred, and some may inadvertently have been omitted, while others again may possibly have been recorded more than once. The following may, however, perhaps be accepted as a tolerably accurate statement of the losses suffered by the Battalion during the “Hundred Days”
Officers killed – 9; wounded – 25; missing – 2.
Other ranks killed – 113; wounded 511; missing – 50.
From - The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, vol. 2, 1914-1918, by H.C. Wylly.
William Anderson was one of the casualties and is buried at Busigny Communal Cemetery Extension, France.
Newspaper Memorial:
In loving memory of Private William Anderson, 1st Loyal North Lancashire's, killed in action in France, October 17th 1918, aged 31 years.
"Could we have raised his dying head,
And heard his last farewell,
The grief would not have been so hard,
For these who loved him well.
Too far away thy grave to see,
But not too far to think of thee.
From his sorrowing Wife and Alan.
Ever remembered by his sorrowing Father, Mother, Sisters and Brother Tom (in France) and Family, 3 Hazel Street, Rising Bridge.
Newspaper Memorial:
In loving memory of Private William Anderson, 1st Loyal North Lancashire's, killed in action in France, October 17th 1918, aged 31 years.
"Could we have raised his dying head,
And heard his last farewell,
The grief would not have been so hard,
For these who loved him well.
Too far away thy grave to see,
But not too far to think of thee.
From his sorrowing Wife and Alan.
Ever remembered by his sorrowing Father, Mother, Sisters and Brother Tom (in France) and Family, 3 Hazel Street, Rising Bridge.
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| Census for Wm Anderson - Click over to enlarge |
