Name
Willie Piggott (MM)
1888
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
27/09/1918
30
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Corporal
23271
The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Military Medal
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
GOUZEAUCOURT NEW BRITISH CEMETERY
V. D. 14.
France
Headstone Inscription
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH HIS DUTY WELL AND NOBLY DONE
UK & Other Memorials
St Mary's Church Memorial, Apsley End,
Hemel Hempstead Town Memorial,
John Dickinson & Co Memorial, Apsley Mills, Apsley
Pre War
Willie Piggott was born in 1888 in Stanbridge, Tottenhoe, Bedfordshire, the son and eldest child of William and Rosa Piggott. he was one of six children.
On the 1891 Census the family were living at Tottenheoe, Beds where his father was working as a Labourer at the Lime Kilns. They had moved to the village of Tilsworth by 1901 and his father was working as a cornmeal dealer and lime kiln filler. Willie was educated at Totternhoe Lower School from 1892 and all the Piggott children contracted Scarlet Fever in 1899 and were absent from school for a long time, but all recovered.
On the 1911 Census Willie was living in Aylesbury, Bucks and was a boarder with the Welford family living in Park Street. He was working as a 'Journeyman Compsitor' in the printing trade. The following year he moved to Hemel Hempstead to work at john Dickinson & Co Ltd as a Compositor in the Book Department Composing Room at Apsley Mills.
He met Minnie Saunders who also worked at Dickininsons and they married in St Mary's Church, Apsley End, in 1912 in Hemel Hempstead and had a son William J Piggott, born 1917. They lived at Springdale, 107 Ebberns Road, Apsley End, Hemel Hempstead and Willie worked at John Dickinson & Co, Apsley End.
Willie was a keen sportsman and member of the Apsley Club and Institute, as well as the Hemel Hempstead Co-operative Society and an active member of the Printers Trade Union.
N.B. His birth was registered as Willie Piggott but on some records his name appears as William.
Wartime Service
He enlisted in Watford in 1915 under the Derby Scheme, whereby he could defer service, and was called up on 1 July 1916, initially serving with The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), under reg. no. 11524. He was sent for basic training near Dover and four months later was on his way to France and transferred to the 1st Battalion, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment).
He was in action at Vimy Ridge in 1917, notable for the success of the Canadians and the capture of more than 4000 enemy prisoners. In November the same year the 1st Battalion, West Kents were moved to Italy and in March 1918 Willie was granted home leave, returning to Hemel Hempstead to see family and friends. He was back in Italy by the end of the month and the Battalion were sent back to France by June, when he was mentioned in despatches for an act of gallantry, for "taking his gun across a canal and clearing a trench". He was then promoted to Corporal.
On 16 September 1918 he was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field. for "exceptional work in the field", but eleven days later during an attack on 27 September 1918, he was wounded, but continued on when all his officers and sergeants became casualties. He rallied the remaining men and led them against the German position in the face of heavy machine gun fire. He was the hit again and killed instantly. He died on 27 September 1918, age 30, and is buried at Gouzeaucourt New British Cemetery.
Additional Information
His widow, Mrs M Piggott, 107 Ebberns Road, Apsley End, Hemel Hempstead, Herts., ordered his headstone inscription: "FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH HIS DUTY WELL AND NOBLY DONE". She received a war gratuity of £10 10s and pay owing of £10 2s 7d. She also received a pension of 15 shillings a week.
She did not remarry and later worked as a Church Attendant until she died in 1942 aged 55.
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
Jonty Wild, www.dacorumheritage,org.uk, www.hemelatwar.org., www.hemelheroes.com.
