Name
William Charles Lawson
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
01/05/1915
19
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
14800
Bedfordshire Regiment
1st Bn.
‘B’ Coy.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL
Panel 31 and 33.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
NA
UK & Other Memorials
Hitchin Town Memorial, St Mary's Church Roll of Honour (Book), Hitchin, British Boys' School Memorial, Hitchin
Pre War
William was born in 1896 in Braintree, Essex and he was baptised at Holy Cross, Greenford, Ealing on 4 December 1898. His parents were James and Caroline Lawson.
In 1901 the family were living in Greenford Green, Greenford, Middlesex. Present were both parents: James (38) and Caroline (39), with James working as a domestic gardener. Their children were: Mabel (10), Alice (8), William (5), Dorothy (2) and Jesse at 3 months.
By 1911 the family had moved to 28 Periwinkle Lane, Hitchin. Present were both parents, James now working as a jobbing gardener. The census recorded they had been married for 21 years with 6 children, of whom 1 had died. By 1911 the family had moved to 28 Periwinkle Lane, Hitchin. Present were both parents, James now working as a jobbing gardener. The census recorded they had been married for 21 years with 6 children, of whom 1 had died. All the children listed above except Mabel. William was now 15 and working as an under clerk in the timber industry.
Before he enlisted he was known as a footballer within Hitchin and was employed by Messrs P.H. Barker & Son, a timber merchant in Hitchin, and was a well-known Sunday School teacher at St. Mary's Church. His father was formerly head gardener to H. G. Salisbury Hughes J.P . and then gardener at the Three Horseshoes in Norton. It is believed that he to enlisted although he would have been 41 in 1914.
Officially he was recorded as born in Braintree, Essex and living in Hitchin when he enlisted there.
Wartime Service
He was given the Regimental Number 14800 and served with ‘B’ Company in the 1st Battalion having volunteered in September 1914. He trained at Felixstowe and was considered to be one of the best shots in his Company. He volunteered to go to the Front and he arrived in France on 1 April 1915, surviving only one calendar month.
He was gassed at Hill 60 and died as a result. The 1st Battalion was part of the 15th Brigade in the 5th Division of II Corps in the 2nd Army.
He saw action at Hill 60 where he suffered from being gassed from which he never recovered from.
His death coincides with a German attack on Hill 60 with dense clouds of chlorine gas and shells commencing at 6.30pm on the 1st May 1915 although there was no follow-up attack by the infantry. Twenty-two men were admitted to hospital suffering from the effects of the gas and two died. It is thought that the Germans had used the gas shells earlier than they had intended, as their original plan was to precede the gas with mine explosions followed by an infantry attack.
He has no known grave and is remembered on the Menin Gate to the Missing at Ypres in Belgium.
Additional Information
After his death £2 17s 6d was authorised to go to his father, James, on 8 October 1915, however this was crossed out and it was noted that he was in the B.E.F. It seems that the amount was subsequently sent to his mother on 10 January 1916. Later, a war gratuity of £3 was authorised to be paid to James on 24 July 1919.
His pension cards record Caroline, his mother, as his dependant, living at 28 Periwinkle Lane, Hitchin. She was awarded a gratuity, but we have not found details of any pension.
Acknowledgments
Adrian Dunne, David C Baines, Jonty Wild
