WILLIAM REGINALD WEST

WILLIAM REGINALD WEST 1887-1918

William Reginald West was born on 25 February 1887 in Glastonbury, the eldest child of John and Augusta West (nee Evely). John was an ‘agricultural labourer’ born in Meare in 1867. Augusta was born in Ashcott also in 1867.
At the time of the 1891 census the family was living in Glastonbury but by the time of the 1901 census the family had moved to Chapel Hill in Ashcott.
John and Augusta had seven other children
May born 1889 in Glastonbury
Mable born 1890 in Street
Beatrice born 1892 in Street
Daisy born 1894 in Ashcott
John born 1895 in Ashcott
Gertrude born 1898 in Ashcott
George born 1900 in Ashcott
William was enrolled in Ashcott School on 10 April 1892 and left on 3 February 1899 ‘to work’. He was employed as a domestic servant at the Redland Grove College in Bristol.
In 1910 William married Beatrice Ada Manley at Burtle Parish Church. They had two sons
Ernest Durston born 16 January 1911
Ronald William born 25 September 1916
It is possible that William never saw Ronald as by September he was in France with his regiment.
In 26 May1916 William enlisted in the Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex Regiment). He died on 26 August 1918 at Croiselles and is remembered at the Vis-en-Artois Memorial along with 9,000 men who fell in the period 8 August 1918 up to the Armistice in November of that year. The Memorial is located on the main road between Arras and Cambrai.
William is included in the Marquis De Ruvigny Roll of Honour which contains 26,000 biographies of British military personnel between 1914 and 1924. According to De Ruvigny William was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal following action in the field at Cambrai in November 1917. To date no citation for the award has been traced.

William was awarded the Victory and the British War Medals.

 

Casualty Details

Name:

 WEST, WILLIAM

Initials:

 W

Nationality:

 United Kingdom

Rank:

 Private

Regiment/Service:

 Middlesex Regiment

Unit Text:

 1st/8th Bn.

Date of Death:

 26/08/1918

Service No:

 TF/242356

Casualty Type:

 Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference:

 Panel 8-9.

Memorial:

 VIS-EN-ARTOIS MEMORIAL

 

In Memory of
Private WILLIAM WEST

TF/242356, 1st/8th Bn., Middlesex Regiment
who died
on 26 August 1918

Remembered with honour

VIS-EN-ARTOIS MEMORIAL

Cemetery Details

Cemetery:

VIS-EN-ARTOIS MEMORIAL

Country:

France

Locality:

Pas de Calais

Visiting Information:

The Panel Numbers quoted at the end of each entry relate to the panels dedicated to the Regiment served with. In some instances where a casualty is recorded as attached to another Regiment, his name may alternatively appear within their Regimental Panels. Please refer to the on-site Memorial Register Introduction to determine the alternative panel numbers if you do not find the name within the quoted Panels.

Location Information:

Vis-en-Artois and Haucourt are villages on the straight main road from Arras to Cambrai about 10 kilometres south-east of Arras. The Memorial is the back drop to the Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery, which is west of Haucourt on the north side of the main road.

Historical Information:

This Memorial bears the names of over 9,000 men who fell in the period from 8 August 1918 to the date of the Armistice in the Advance to Victory in Picardy and Artois, between the Somme and Loos, and who have no known grave. They belonged to the forces of Great Britain and Ireland and South Africa; the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand forces being commemorated on other memorials to the missing. The Memorial consists of a screen wall in three parts. The middle part of the screen wall is concave and carries stone panels on which names are carved. It is 26 feet high flanked by pylons 70 feet high. The Stone of Remembrance stands exactly between the pylons and behind it, in the middle of the screen, is a group in relief representing St George and the Dragon. The flanking parts of the screen wall are also curved and carry stone panels carved with names. Each of them forms the back of a roofed colonnade; and at the far end of each is a small building. The memorial was designed by J.R. Truelove, with sculpture by Ernest Gillick. It was unveiled by the Rt. Hon. Thomas Shaw on 4 August 1930.

No. of Identified Casualties:

9850

This figure includes Foreign and Non-World War graves in CWGC care

 

Attachments – Commonwealth War Graves Commission Certificate
– Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery Details
– Marquis De Ruvigny Roll of Honour
References – Ashcott School Admission Logs 1892-1899
– BMD Marriages
William R West September Quarter 1910 Bridgwater 5c 623
– World War 1 Medal Card