The Commonwealth War Graves Commission citation for Stephen Williams does not give his parent’s names, so I hope that I have found the right parents for him, any help to confirm or deny my findings would be gratefully received.
Stephen Williams was born into a large family circa 1911 (Wrexham County Borough (Wrexham)WM/142/90) and baptised, according to the Gwersyllt Parish Registers, on the 11th October 1911, the son of George & Susannah Williams (nee Lewis). They married in a Civil Ceremony at Wrexham in 1896. (Wrexham County Borough (Wrexham)WM/043/57).
The Williams family are seen on the 1911 census living at Warwick Cottages, High Street, Gwersyllt, Nr. Wrexham. Head of the household, George Williams, 36, was a Coal Miner (Hewer) and had been born in Gwersyllt, Denbighshire. His wife Susanna, 36 had been born in Hope and she tells us that they had been married 14 years and 7 children had been born, but sadly 1 had died. Their children were George, 14, a Coal Miner (Waggoner), born Hope. In School were John Edward, 12, born Gwersyllt, Frances, 10, born Gresford and Harry, 5, born Gwersyllt. The two youngest, were Amy, 3, and Martha, 2, both born Gwersyllt.
As stated above Stephen was born in the September quarter of 1911, after the census was taken, on the 2nd of April 1911.
I believe that Stephen’s father, George, died in the September quarter of 1916 (Wrexham Vol. 11b Page277), age 43 years, and also believe that another child, Rose Ada was born after he died. I found a baptism for her in the Gwersyllt Parish Registers :- Page 282 No. 2254 21st March 1917 Rose Ada d/o George & Susannah WILLIAMS, Inkermann Cottages, Gwersyllt, Collier.
If my research is correct, then Susannah was left with her large family on her own and Stephen would have only been 5 years old.
I also believe that Stephen met and married Elizabeth Call, who was the adopted daughter of George & Phoebe Boultor, who, on the 1911 census was living at Alyn Bank, Caergwrle. George Boultor,41, was a Labourer, born Gloucestershire and Phoebe Boultor, 43, had been born in Hope, Flintshire. They tell us they had been married 7 years and no children had been born to them. Elizabeth Call, age 3, was described as their Adopted Daughter and she had been born in Chester. This census was the first one that had been filled in by the householder, so I believe that George wrote this.
Stephen & Elizabeth married in the December quarter of 1936. It is on this he is described as a Collier, so I cannot believe that he was in the Army for 16 years as the newspaper stated, but I cannot find them on the 1939 National Register which was taken on the 29th September 1939
Stephen’s Army Roll of Honour, gives the date 1940, so I am assuming, perhaps wrongly, that that is the date when he either enlisted or was conscripted:-
Your Country needs you. – On the day Britain declared war on Germany, 3 September 1939, Parliament immediately passed a more wide-reaching measure. The National Service (Armed Forces) Act imposed conscription on all males aged between 18 and 41 who had to register for service.
So Stephen was to find himself a Private in the 1st Bn The South Lancashire Regiment fighting in France and was missing, according to the Casualty List (Page 32), between 10th May and the 16th June 1940. On Casualty List 443 (Secret), he is “Previously reported Missing on Casualty List 269, now not MISSING” He obviously returned to his Unit, but the next time Stephen is noticed on the Casualty List (Page 10) is because he was Killed in Action on the 29th April 1944, this time as a Corporal in the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry – 1st Bn.
An excerpt from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Citation for Stephen on a write-up of the Beach Head War Cemetery , Anizio where Stephen now rests:-
HISTORY INFORMATION
On 3 September 1943 the Allies invaded the Italian mainland, the invasion coinciding with an armistice made with the Italians who then re-entered the war on the Allied side.
Progress through southern Italy was rapid despite stiff resistance, but by the end of October, the Allies were facing the German winter defensive position known as the Gustav Line, which stretched from the river Garigliano in the west to the Sangro in the east. Initial attempts to breach the western end of the line were unsuccessful. Operations in January 1944 landed troops behind the German lines at Anzio, but defences were well organised, and a breakthrough was not actually achieved until May.
Did Stephen take part in these operations?
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/kings-own-yorkshire-light-infantry
Second World War
In October 1939, 1st Battalion joined the British Expeditionary Force in France, before accompanying the ill-fated British force sent to Norway in April 1940. The conflict also took it to India, Iraq and Persia (now Iran) in 1942, and Palestine, Egypt and Syria in 1943. In July 1943, it landed on Sicily and then fought in Italy (1943-44), before a final move to North-West Europe in March 1945.
Meanwhile, 2nd Battalion fought in Burma in 1941-42, before retreating to India. It remained there until the country gained its independence in 1947.
The regiment also raised seven Territorial and Service battalions during the war. Several of these were anti-aircraft units. The 1/4th Battalion landed in Normandy in 1944, while 7th Battalion was converted into an armoured formation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Own_Yorkshire_Light_Infantry
Second World War
During the Second World War, the battalions served in all three fronts (Europe, North Africa and Asia-Pacific).[20]
The 1st Battalion, a Regular Army unit, was serving with the 15th Infantry Brigade, alongside the 1st Battalion, Green Howards and the 1st Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, and was sent to France in 1939, as part of 5th Infantry Division. In April 1940, with the brigade, the battalion was sent to Aandelsnes, Norway where they saw service as part of “Sickleforce” in the Norwegian Campaign and earned its first battle honour “Kvam” before it was evacuated on 1 May / 2 May. A period of training followed, with the battalion spending time in Scotland, Lancashire and Northern Ireland. In January 1942, the battalion commenced training for tropical service and moved to Poona, India. It was then decided to train for desert warfare and so the battalion was moved to Iran and then the Canal Zone for further training. The battalion next saw action in July 1943 during the Allied invasion of Sicily, and later the Allied invasion of Italy, before fighting through the Italian Campaign, in the Battle of Anzio and Operation Diadem before, in July 1944, being sent to Palestine to rest and refit. The battalion remained there until early 1945, when it was transferred to Italy again, only to be transferred to Marseilles in March 1945 for service in North-western Europe for the invasion of Germany. There, the battalion ended its war, fighting its last action at Potrau on 1 May 1945, some five years after it was evacuated from Norway.[17]
Also read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_invasion_of_Sicily
Allied invasion of Sicily.
And this website is very interesting :-– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mincemeat
Operation Mincemeat
Operation Mincemeat was a successful British deception operation of the Second World War to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. Two members of British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a tramp who died from eating rat poison, dressed him as an officer of the Royal Marines and placed personal items on him identifying him as the fictitious Captain (Acting Major) William Martin. Correspondence between two British generals which suggested that the Allies planned to invade Greece and Sardinia, with Sicily as merely the target of a feint, was also placed on the body.
Stephen was obviously part of this Invasion of Italy, as this is where he lost his life – Please read as it may help visualise what he went through:-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_invasion_of_Italy
The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied amphibious landing on mainland Italy that took place on 3 September 1943 during the early stages of the Italian campaign of World War II. The operation was undertaken by General Sir Harold Alexander’s 15th Army Group (comprising General Mark W. Clark’s American Fifth Army and General Bernard Montgomery’s British Eighth Army) and followed the successful Allied Invasion of Sicily. The main invasion force landed around Salerno on 9 September on the western coast in Operation Avalanche, while two supporting operations took place in Calabria (Operation Baytown) and Taranto (Operation Slapstick). See more………..
Another excerpt:-
By early October 1943, the whole of southern Italy was in Allied hands, and the Allied armies stood facing the Volturno Line, the first of a series of prepared defensive lines running across Italy from which the Germans chose to fight delaying actions, giving ground slowly and buying time to complete their preparation of the Winter Line, their strongest defensive line south of Rome. The next stage of the Italian campaign became for the Allied armies a grinding and attritional slog against skillful, determined and well-prepared defenses in terrain and weather conditions which favoured defense and hampered the Allied advantages in mechanised equipment and air superiority. It took until mid-January 1944 to fight through the Volturno, Barbara and Bernhardt lines to reach the Gustav Line, the backbone of the Winter Line defenses, setting the scene for the four battles of Monte Cassino which took place between January and May 1944.
I believe that Stephen & Elizabeth had two daughters, Sheila E. Williams, born in the June quarter of 1937 (Hawarden Vol. 11b Page 267) and Audrey Williams, born in the September quarter of 1939 (Hawarden Vol. 11b Page 267).
Copland09 Family Tree on Ancestry: – https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/tree/50941041/listofallpeople?rows=20#pg=1 tells us that Elizabeth CALL was born on the 27th May 1907 in Chester and died on the 1st May 1956 in Caergwrle.
The Chester Chronicle 20th May 1944 tells us news of the death of Stephen : – KILLED IN ACTION – News has been recieved from the Army padre serving in the Anzio Beachhead, by Mrs. Williams, 4, Alyn Bank, Caergwrle, stating that her husband, Corpl. Stephen Williams, had been killed and been buried near the main road from Anzio to Rome. Corpl. Williams is the son of Mrs. Jones, Derby-road, Caergwrle. He was 33 and had been in the Army for nearly 16 years.
So my calculation that perhaps Stephen was conscripted or enlisted in 1940 was wrong according to the Newspaper report, as it states that he was in the Army for 16 years, but I have no proof either way, he was a Collier in 1936 when he married, so if anyone can shine any light on Stephen’s army career, I would be most grateful.
Copland09 Family Tree : –https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/tree/50941041/listofallpeople?rows=20#pg=1 tells us that Elizabeth CALL was born on the 27th May 1907 in Chester and died on the 1st May 1956.
Stephen was well loved by his family as they made sure he would be remembered in perpetuity by adding his name to the Hope WW2 War Memorial.
SWEET, THE WORD REMEMBRANCE AS THESE FEW WORDS WILL SHOW WE HOLD HIM STILL IN MEMORY AS THE YEARS COME AND GO
