Pte 25103 William Mayoh

• Age: 21
• From: Bolton, Lancs
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• D.O.W Saturday 14th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Flatiron Copse Cem Mametz
  Panel Ref: I.G.18

William Mayoh was born in the second quarter of 1895 in Bolton, the son of Joseph Mayoh and his wife Mary (née Prescott) who were married at the Saviour's Church, Deane Road, Bolton in 1891. 

The 1901 Census finds 5 year old William living with his parents and two younger siblings at 84 Ramwell Street, Bolton. His father Joseph is aged 33, born 1868 in Bolton, his employment is shown as a cotton match minder, whilst his mother, Mary is aged 36, born in Bolton in 1865. His siblings, all born in Bolton are listed as; James aged 3 and Agnes aged 1.  

The 1911 Census shows the family have moved and are now living at 10 Elizabeth Street, Bolton. His father Joseph is now aged 43, and his employment is described as a cotton spinning worker (minder), whilst his mother Mary is aged 46. They advise that they have been married for 19 years and have had five children, four of whom have survived. Those children on the Census are listed as; William who is aged 15, and whose occupation is as a piecer, as is his brother, James, aged 13, Agnes is aged 11, and Robert is aged 8, both are at school.

Prior to the outbreak of the war he had been employed as a side-piecer at Messrs: Crooks Mill, Deane Road.

William enlisted in Bolton and was serving in the 17th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 25103.

On the 12th October 1916  William was involved in the Battle of Le Transloy, part of the ongoing Somme offensive. The battalion diary records:

"The 17th King's were accommodated in Gird Trench and Gird Support which they had relieved a Battalion of the 123rd Brigade on the night of 10/11th October 1916.
At Zero hour 2.5 p.m on the 12th October the whole line went forward to the attack...........
On the Extreme left the 17th found the Enemy's wire uncut ......
The Losses in crossing No Mans Land were in consequence very heavy !"

William died of wounds on the 14th October 1916, aged 21.

He now rests at Flatiron Copse Cemetery, Mametz, France, where his headstone bears the epitaph:

“DUTY NOBLY DONE”

Flatiron Copse was the name given by the army to a small plantation a little to the east of Mametz Wood. The ground was taken by the 3rd and 7th Divisions on 14 July 1916 and an advanced dressing station was established at the copse. The cemetery was begun later that month and it remained in use until April 1917. Two further burials were made in August 1918 and after the Armistice, more than 1,100 graves were brought in from the neighbouring battlefields and from smaller cemeteries. Almost all the concentrated graves are those of men who died in the summer and autumn of 1916. There are now 1,572 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 420 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 36 casualties known or believed to be buried among them, and nine buried in Mametz Wood Cemetery whose graves were destroyed by shell fire. The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.

His death was reported in the Bolton Journal on 03rd November 1916

He is also commemorated on the Rolls of Honour at St Edmund’s and St Margaret’s Churches and is commemorated on the family headstone at Heaton Cemetery, Bolton..

His brother, James, died on the 09th December 1918 whilst serving as 23407 King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) having  transferred to (133044) 218th Area Employment Coy. Labour Corps. The family grave in Bolton has James incorrectly in the King's Liverpool Regt (probably as a result of the family mistaking KORL as Liverpool).

James now rests at Caudry British Cemetery where his headstone bears the same epitaph as his brother William:

"Duty Nobly Done" 

Soldiers Effects of both sons to father Joseph, Pensions to mother Mary.

His father died, aged 58, on 30th January 1926/ Probate 03rd July to Mary Mayoh. Effects £288 16s 1d.

We currently have no further information on William Mayoh, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.