Name
William Henry Finch
1885
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
22/11/1917
32
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
40661
Norfolk Regiment
7th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
CAMBRAI MEMORIAL, LOUVERVAL
Panel 4.
France
Headstone Inscription
N/A
UK & Other Memorials
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial, St Mary's Church Memorial, Hemel Hempstead
Pre War
William Henry Finch was born in 1885 at Lovetts End Farm, Hemel Hempstead, the son of William and Annie Mary Finch, and baptised in Hemel Hempstead on 22 December 1885. He was one of eleven children.
On the 1901 Census the family were living at Lovetts End Farm, Hemel Hempstead, where his father was the Farmer. They had been living there since before 1881 and remained there on the 1911 Census, but William was not listed with them in 1911.
Wartime Service
William enlisted at at St Paul's Churchyard, Middlesex in April 1916 (may have been St Paul's Mill Hill) and served with the 7th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment. He was sent to Felixstowe for basic training before going to the Western Front. He had specialised in mortar firing and served with the Trench Mortar Battery.
He saw his first major action in April/May 1917 at the First Battle of the Scarpe and the Battle of Arleux, both phases of the Arras Offensive, where the 7th Battalion suffered many casualties.
He was granted home leave on 4 October to see family and friends and on his return he joined his unit at Villeroy-sur-Authie, France.
On 20 November the 7th Battalion were part of a successful attack on the Hindenburg Line but then came under attack from German shelling and William was killed on 22 November 1917 by shrapnel from an enemy shell whilst sheltering in a dug-out.
A letter to the family from Leonard Castle, 2nd Lieutenant, told the family that he died instantaneously and would have suffered no pain. He also said that William would be buried behind the lines with other colleagues, however his burial place must have been lost in battle as he has no known grave and his name is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial, France.
Additional Information
His mother Annie received a war gratuity of £7 and pay owing of £8 18s 9d.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.hemelheroes.com,, www.hemelatwar.org., www.dacorumheritage.org.uk
