Name
William (Bill) Butts
22 February 1886
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
19/11/1914
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
2504
Hertfordshire Regiment
'E' Coy
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 (Mons) Star, British War and Victory Medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL
Panel 54 and 56.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Hitchin Town Memorial, 4 Co' Hertfordshire Reg' Territorials’ Memorial, Hitchin, Holy Saviour Church War Memorial, Radcliffe Rd., Hitchin, St Mary's Church Roll of Honour, Hitchin, Hertfordshire Regimental Memorial, All Saints Church, Hertford
Pre War
William, or Bill, was born in Houghton in Hampshire, lived in Hitchin and worked at Russell's Tanyard for eleven years. Bill's home was at 6, Verulam Road, Hitchin and he had a brother.
William was born on around 22 February 1886 in Houghton, Hants. His parents were William, born in Canterbury and Emily, born in Peckham.
In 1891 the family were living in Sparsholt, Hampshire. The parents were William (30), who was working as a parchment maker and Emily (29). Their children were Isaac (12), George (10), Ada E (7), William (5) and Frederick (3).
Sadly both his parents were dead by 1901 so William and siblings went to live with his elder brother Issac Butts at 21 Boston Road, Old Brentford. The household consisted of Isaac (21) and his wife Fanny Alice Jacobs (23) who Issac had married in 1899, and siblings Ada, William and Issac and Fanny’s son Isaac (1). Isaac was working in his father’s trade as a parchment maker and William at 15 was working as a parchment labourer.
By 1911 Isaac and Fanny had moved to 6 Verulam Road, Hitchin. Isaac was still a parchment maker. With them were, their children: Isaac, now 11, Joseph (9), Dorothy (8), Archibald (3) and Emily (1). Also present were his brother William, now 26 and also a parchment maker and his sister Ada now 27.
William enlisted into the Hertfordshire Regiment, Territorial Force as Provate 2504 meaning that he enlisted between 28 January 1913 and 1 January 1914. So he was a Territorial when war was declared and mobilised for ‘Home’ service.
Officially William Butts was recorded as born Houghton, Hants. And living in Hitchin when he enlisted in Hertford.
Wartime Service
William was in the Territorials and as he lived in Hitchin he was almost certainly in ‘G’ Company, Territorials were not required to serve overseas, however they could volunteer to do so, which William must have done because he went to France with the other volunteers on 6 November 1914.
The Herts were a Territorial Force unit under Lieut Colonel the Viscount Hampden. They left Bury St. Edmunds on the 5th November 1914 and went to Southampton, Le Havre and arrived at St. Omer on the 9th November. They moved by bus to Vlamentinghe in the 11th and the bivouacked 3 ¾ miles West of HOOGE. The Bn came under shrapnel fire passing through YPRES and had one Officer and one man struck but only one man needed medical attention.
They first took over trenches on the November 14th and their first death plus two woundings on the 17th before the evening when they went into the trenches again & took over from the 1st Royal Dragoons and 10th Hussars 1 mile S.E. of ZILLEBEKE. On the 18th one man was killed and another was missing.
On the 19th, the day of William’s death the Battalion war diary reads: “E Company was heavily shelled and lost 3 men killed, 19 wounded, 2. Lieut C.M. Down wounded. In the evening we were relieved by the 2nd Bn Coldstream Guards and marched back to our own former bivouacs. Slight fall of snow.”
William was one of those killed or who died of wounds soon afterwards. In fact 6 others died that day including 2747 George Haslear CATLIN, 2518 George Edward ELLIS, 2426 Walter William FLANDERS, 2428 Joseph William JOHNSON, 1911 Frank PULLEY and 2746 Henry WEST]
William was a very early casualty of the Hertfordshires, dying less than two weeks after landing in France. When he died he was recorded as in ‘E’ Company. He was the first Territorial from Hitchin to be killed in action. It was said that "He had a genial disposition and was popular at work and eagerly accepted the opportunity of coming to close grips with the enemy".
Lieut. T Bevan, who was nearby, wrote: “The Germans were shelling at us very heavily at the time, a one large high explosive shell pitched right in front of your brother’s position. It killed that man next to me and knocked me senseless for a time. What happened to you brother I don’t exactly quite know. It was towards evening when it happened and when I came to I started to dig in the trench next to me. About a foot underneath I found a man, but not your brother; he had been killed. I then went to your brother’s trench, which had been completely blown in, and started digging. I dug some way down and then we relived by another regiment. Of course there is some slight chance that you brother may be all right, but I am afraid this is very improbable.”
He has no known grave and is remembered on Panels 54 and 56 of the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Belgium.
Later in the war after they had joined the 4th Guards Brigade and serving alongside the Guards ern’t the nickname the ‘Herts Guards’.
Additional Information
The North Herts Gazette records 'Bill' as the first Hitchin Territorial to fall in battle. He is mentioned in the story of William Sell, which can be found here in the Archive at: Archive - Hertfordshire Men & Women - Individuals Stories - William Sell (MM) - Biography Include others from the Herts Reg.
After his death £3 8s 5d was authorised to go to his brother in 8 July 1915 and later a war gratuity of £3 was authorised to be paid to him on 27 June 1919.
Isaac also enlisted, in 1915, but he was released as unlikely to make a good soldier.
Acknowledgments
Adrian Dunne, David C Baines, Jonty Wild, Dan Hill, Elizabeth Wood
