Private William Wilson

Private William Wilson, “D ” Coy., 1st/7th ( Territorial ) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers. He was killed in action in France on 15th September 1916, aged 19, during the Battle of the Somme. He was the son of Mrs Margaret Spiers of 11 Kiln Hill, Tweedmouth and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. He fell in an attack near the notorious High Wood where the confused nature of the fighting and artillery ” shorts ” caused many casualties. 4 Officers and 114 Other Ranks were killed and 7 Officers and 219 Other Ranks were wounded. The photos show the state of the ground after the continual shelling and the autumnal rains had turned the chalky soil of the Region into a glutinous quagmire. The photograph shows the impressive Memorial raised to the 50th ( Northumbrian ) Division of which the Battalion was part until February 1918 when it was transferred to the 42nd ( East Lancashire ) Division as a Pioneer Battalion. It was erected near the village of Wieltje where nearby on 26th April 1915 the Division had fought its first action of the War only days after landing on the Continent.