COPE, WILLIAM MOSELEY ("Billie")
Photograph with kind permission from the Uttoxeter Advertiser
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Source |
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CWGC |
SDGW |
Uttoxeter Advertiser |
Other |
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Parents |
William and Jane Cope |
Yes |
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1e, 1f, 1g, 6 |
Where born |
Uttoxeter, Staffordshire |
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1e, 1f, 1g, 6 |
When born |
About 1891 |
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1g, 5 |
Jan – Mar 1891 |
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1f |
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Address |
Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire |
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Yes |
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41, New Street, Uttoxeter |
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7a, 7b, 7c, 7d |
6 |
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Spouse |
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Children |
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Employment Before Joining up |
Worked for the North Staffordshire Railway |
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6 |
Where enlisted |
Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire |
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Yes |
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Regiment |
Formerly, 37527 South Staffordshire Regiment |
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Yes |
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Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) |
Yes |
Yes |
7a, 7b |
6, 8 |
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Unit |
26th Bn. |
Yes |
Yes |
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26th (S) Bn |
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6 |
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Rank |
Private |
Yes |
Yes |
7a, 7b, 7c, 7d |
6, 8 |
Service Number |
66604 |
Yes |
Yes |
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6 |
Date of Death |
Went missing on 20 September 1917 |
Yes |
Yes |
7d |
6 |
Age at time of death |
26 |
Yes |
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Where Killed or died |
Ypres salient - 3rd Ypres (Passchendaele - Passchendaele Ridge) |
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7d |
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France / Flanders |
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Yes |
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How he died |
Not known, but assumed killed in action |
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Killed in Action |
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Yes |
7d |
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Location of Grave or Memorial |
Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing, Panel 28. |
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4 |
Uttoxeter Town War Memorial |
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6 |
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North Staffordshire Railway War Museum, Stoke Station |
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4, 6 |
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Awards |
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His parents were William and Jane Cope, of 41, New St., Uttoxeter, Staffs, and William was their eldest son7d. Four of their sons served on the Western Front and the other three sons survived the war.
In 1881 the family was living in Balance Street1e. In 1891 they were living in Balance Hill1f, and they were still there when the 1901 census1g was taken.
The 1901 Census Return1g enables us to determine that the family comprised the following members:
Relationship with William |
Name |
When born |
Where born |
Father |
William Cope |
About 1857 |
Leigh, Staffordshire |
Mother |
Jane Cope |
About 1865 |
Doveridge, Derbyshire |
Sister |
Annie Cope |
About 1888 |
Uttoxeter, Staffordshire |
Brother |
Edward Cope |
About 1899 |
Uttoxeter, Staffordshire |
Sister |
Nellie Cope |
About 1889 |
Uttoxeter, Staffordshire |
SELF |
WILLIAM COPE |
About 1891 |
Uttoxeter, Staffordshire |
Brother |
Reginald Cope |
About 1894 |
Uttoxeter, Staffordshire |
Brother |
Ernest Cope |
About 1899 |
Uttoxeter, Staffordshire |
By the time of the Great War they were living at 41 New Street, Uttoxeter. Their house still exists.
New Street, Uttoxeter | |
41 New Street is the house between the street lamp and the car in this picture. This is the house from which William and his brothers went to war.
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His father, William Sr., worked for the North Staffordshire Railway and was a signalman in the Bridge-Street box in Uttoxeter for 39 yearstb.
William Jr. followed his father into working for the same railway. Initially he worked for five years in the Uttoxeter Parcels Office and then another four at Burton-on-Trent6, 7b.
William joined-up on 16th March 19176, 7b.
He originally served as 37527 in the South Staffordshire Regiment. The CWGC Roll of Honour lists him as 66604 serving with the Royal Fusiliers at the time of his death.
On 20th September 19177b, during the battle of Passchendaele, William was reported wounded7a. Two months later, in November 1917, the Uttoxeter Advertiser reported that he was now classed as wounded and missing6, 7a. It was not until September 1918 that he was officially classed as killed6.
William Cope was killed on the Passchendaele Ridge. This photograph is looking down the slope from the top of the ridge towards the position of the British lines. Our troops fought their way up this slope towards us. The whole area was a sea of mud, which is why so many, including William, disappeared without trace. |
William has no known grave and his name is recorded on a panel in the Tyne Cot Memorial. The Memorial Panels run along the walls which surround the back of Tyne Cot Cemetery. | |
The Tyne Cot Cemetery and the other cemeteries in the Ypres area contain many graves of unidentified soldiers. William may be one of them, or he may still lie where he fell, somewhere beneath the surrounding fields | |
He is also commemorated on the lovely North Staffordshire Railway War Memorial in Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station
This memorial notice was posted in the Uttoxeter Advertiser in September 19197d to commemorate the second anniversary of his death: |
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