Name
William Goodman (MM)
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
16/10/1916
21
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Serjeant
12214
Norfolk Regiment
7th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Military Medal
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
GUARDS' CEMETERY, LESBOEUFS
V. J. 9.
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Croxley Green Village Memorial, Croxley Green,
All Saints' Church Shrine, Croxley Green,
John Dickinson & Co Memorial, Croxley Mill, Croxley Green,
Rickmansworth Urban District Memorial
Pre War
Like his brother John, who was killed in January 1916, William worked at Croxley Mill, was a member of the Church Lads’ Brigade and was one of the first from Croxley Green to join up. He was born in Stoke Mandeville, Bucks on 1 November 1894 to William and Sarah Goodman.
William senior was a railway signalman and they lived for a time in Amersham. William junior was christened in Croxley Green on 11 March 1912. The family lived at 254 New Road. In 1911 there were three children, William, John and Kate. All Saints‘ Parish Magazine in December 1916 commented about the family that the death of their other son had made this fresh sorrow doubly hard to bear. William had been a chorister at All Saints’. He had seen a great deal of fighting and had distinguished himself, winning the Military Medal and attaining the rank of Sergeant. The editor continued that he was always so cheerful, so unselfish and so good tempered. ‘He was a loyal churchman who had made the greatest sacrifice and was an example to us all. We shall not forget him.’
Recorded as enlisting in Watford.
Wartime Service
Sergeant William Goodman of 7th Battalion, Norfolk Regiment was killed in action on 16 October just short of his 22nd birthday.
The battalion (35th Brigade, 12th Division) was involved in an attack on German trenches near Gueudecourt on 12th October. They were faced with heavy machine gun fire and uncut barbed wire. Casualties were heavy and they were forced to withdraw. On the night of 15 October the gunpits, which had proved such an obstacle on 12th October, were captured. Meanwhile the British trenches and battery positions were shelled.
He was awarded the Military Medal when he was a Lance Sergeant.
Additional Information
His mother Sarah received a war gratuity of £12 and pay owing of £18 15s 5d.
Brother of Rifleman John Victor Goodman of 16th Btn, King's Royal Rifle Corps who died on 2 January 1916 and who is commemorated on the Loos memorial, France as well as the Cro
Acknowledgments
Malcolm Lennox, Tanya Britton, Brian Thomson, Croxley Green in the First World War Rickmansworth Historical Society 2014
