Adams William

ADAMS, WILLIAM

		Source
		CWGC	SDGW	Uttoxeter Advertiser	Other
Parents
Where born	Burton on Trent		Yes
When born
Address	4 Blacksmith's Yard, Balance Street, Uttoxeter.				9
Address	Blacksmith's Yard, Uttoxeter			2a
Spouse	Ellen Adams, of 4, Blacksmith's Yard, Balance St., Uttoxeter, Staffs	Yes
Children
Employment Before Joining up
Where Enlisted	Birmingham		Yes
Regiment	North Staffordshire (Prince of Wales's)	Yes	Yes		10
Unit	8th Bn	Yes	Yes		10
Rank	Private	Yes	Yes		10
Service Number	16445	Yes	Yes		10
Date of Death	1st July 1916 (wrong)			2a
Date of Death	3rd July 1916	Yes	Yes		10
Age at time of death
Where Killed or died	Somme – 1st day (Gommecourt) -WRONG			Roll of Honour
Where Killed or died	Region of Tara-Usna Line, near La Boiselle, Somme. Killed in attempt to take and hold Ovillers village.				1
How he died	Killed in Action		Yes		110
How he died	Presumed Killed in Action			2a
Location of Grave or Memorial	Thiepval Memorial for the Missing - Pier and Face 14 B and 14 C.		Yes
Awards	Victory Medal: Roll F/104B7 Page 664				10
	British Medal: Roll F/104B7 Page 664				10
	1915 Star: Roll F5B1 Page 2				10

William lived in 4, Blacksmith’s Yard, Balance Street, Uttoxeter and married to Ellen.

He enlisted at Birmingham into the 8th battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment.

William’s regimental number would indicate that he was not one of the original volunteers, but joined-up a little later. He was probably in the Reserve Battalion (3rd North Staffordshire) and sailed for France on 25th August 1915 to join the 8th Battalion and help to make up losses.

According to the War Diary the action in which he was killed was the first full attack by the battalion, despite their having been in the front line since August 1915.

William lost his life is a shambolic operation on the 3rd July, near the village of La Boiselle in particular they were to seize a crater formed by one of the mine explosions on the 1st July.

He and his compatriots were not adequately briefed on their objectives before they went into the line and the organisation of operations soon fell apart in the heat of the battle..

The 8th North Staffordshire Regiment’s War Diary, which was written immediately afterwards, describes the battalion’s activities on the day on which William met his death. A full transcript can be found in our book Uttoxeter’s Lost Generation. We cannot say when it was that William lost his life, but he was one of 29 in his battalion who died on this day

The crater referred to in the account above will have been the Lochnager Crater, which is pictured below:

These are the fields where he is most likely to have fallen. He has no known grave, so he may still lie here to this day

William was reported missing during the day of the 3rd July, and if his body was ever found, it was not identified. He is therefore counted amongst the Somme’s missing and he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

It was not until May 1917 that his wife was told that he was now presumed killed. Shortly afterwards, in the 2nd of May edition, the Uttoxeter Advertiser included the following report:

The Husband of Mrs. Adams, of Blacksmith’s-yard, Uttoxeter, who was reported missing after the fighting on July 1, 1916, is now officially reported killed.

Note that the date was wrong. The town had lost many people on the 1st July and the mistake was understandable. However, the official record embodied in the Medal Card[10] is clear about the date being 3rd July 1916.

William has no known grave and his name is recorded on the Thiepval Memorial for the Missing