Name
William Henry Spinks (The Rev)
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
29/05/1918
45
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Chaplain
Young Men's Christian Association
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
ETAPLES MILITARY CEMETERY
XXVIII. M. 7.
France
Headstone Inscription
DIED FROM INJURIES RECEIVED WHILST RESCUING A CHINAMAN DURING AN AIR RAID "GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN"
UK & Other Memorials
Not on the Letchworth memorials, Loughborough Roll of Honour
Pre War
The story is told in three lines. The Rev William Henry Spinks was 45 years old and was the husband of Ada Spinks of 49 Leys Avenue Letchworth Herts. The Rev Spinks was a Baptist minister.
Here he held the pastorate of Woodgate Baptist Church (Loughborough) for 11 years till July 1916 when he obtained three months leave of absence from the church to go in for YMCA work but before that time expired he sent in his resignation of the pastorate in order that he might devote himself entirely to the work.
Wartime Service
On the Loughborough Roll of Honour is the following account.
“The Rev W.H. Spinks was severely wounded on Sunday May 19th when a hospital in France in which he was engaged in ministerial duties was bombed. There was received the news during the weekend that the Rev gentleman had succumbed to his injuries on May 29th. His wife who had reached Folkstone on her way to visit him in France received the news. The Rev W.H. Spinks was a student pastor at Coventry at the beginning of his ministerial career, and after being at Kirkcaldy for five and a half years, he came to Loughborough in October 1905.
Afterwards his health broke down and he returned from France, and after recovering he went into business occupation in Leicester for a time, until he was again accepted for YMCA work. He had only been in France a few days when he received the severe wounds which caused his death.”
About the YMCA
In November 1914, the YMCA went to France and set up a recreation centre in Le Havre. Later, they set up in Rouen, Boulogne, Dieppe, Etaples and Calais, which were the main Army Bases. They also set up in the railway junctions at Abbeville, Dunkirk, Abancourt, Paris and Marseilles. They served up refreshments for the troops and provided writing and reading material which was of enormous value to the soldiers. Some of the staff of the YMCA, totalling over 1,500 in France and Flanders alone, worked in the hospital giving pastoral care and nursing support."
His epitaph reads: Died from injuries received whilst rescuing a Chinaman during an air raid, Greater love hath no man
Acknowledgments
Jonty Wild, North Wales Western Front Association, www.nwwfa.org.uk/index.php/newsletters/2016/september, Loughborough Roll of Honour
