1885 - 1916
CPL David Wallace Crawford
1887 - 1916
Lce-Corpl John Joseph Nickle
1894 - 1916
Pte 17911 Morton Neill
1897 - 1916
Lieut Edward Stanley Ashcroft
1883 - 1918
Pte 52178 William Thompson
- Age: 30
- From: Manchester
- Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 19th Btn
- D.O.W Friday 7th December 1917
- Commemorated at: Bailleul Cc Ext
Panel Ref: III.E.38
William Thompson was born in 1887 in Manchester and was the son of John Thompson and his wife Mary (née Eckersley) who were married in the December quarter of 1880, their marriage was registered in Prestwich. His father may have been a widow as his first son John was born in 1877.
On the 1881 Census the family are living at 9 Burton Street, Manchester. His father, John, is aged 30, and is a maker-up,his mother, Mary, is aged 27, and is a cap maker, their son John is 4.
On the 1891 Census the family are living at 27 Eliza Ann Street, Collyhurst, Manchester. His father, John, is aged 40, a maker-up (cotton), his mother, Mary, is aged 37. There are six children in the household; John is aged 14,and is a printer, Eliza is aged 9, and a scholar, Charles aged 8,also a scholar, Elizabeth aged 5, also a scholar, William is aged 3 and Margaret is aged 2. No birthplace is recorded.
On the 1901 Census the family are still at 27 Eliza Ann Street, Manchester. His father, John, is aged 50, a maker-up in a Manchester warehouse,his mother, Mary, is aged 47. There are seven children declared in the household; John, is aged 24 is working with his father, Eliza, is aged 19, and is a letterpress printer feeder, Elizabeth is aged 15, and is a mens cloth cap maker, William is aged 13, Margaret is aged 12, Emma is aged 9 and Nellie is aged 6. This time the birthplace is recorded as Manchester.
On the 1911 Census the family have moved to 44 Alton Street, Queens Park, Manchester. His father, John, is aged 60, a warehouseman, his mother, Mary, is aged 56. They advised that they have been married for 32 years,they have had 8 children, 7 of whom have survived. There are six children declared in the household; Eliza, is aged 30, is a printers lithographer, Elizabeth, is aged 25, a cap maker, William, is aged 24, and is a general labourer, Margaret, is aged 22, and is a blouse maker, Emma is aged 19 and Nellie is aged 15 are both shirt makers.
William married Florence (née Brookes) on the 10th April 1914 at St. John's Church, Moston, Manchester. Florence was born on the 10th June 1893 in Wolverhampton, the daughter of Matthias Brookes and his wife, Annie Eliza (née Sumner). Their son William was born on the 03rd November 1914.
On the 1911 Census at 4 Waverley Road, Moston, Florence is living with her married sister Matilda Doncaster and family.
Based on the amount of the War Gratuity, William enlisted in about June or July 1915 in Manchester and served originally as Private 3216, Manchester Regiment. He was subsequently transferred and was serving in the 19th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 52178 when he died of wounds on the 07th December 1917.
He now rests at Bailleul CC Extension, France.
Bailleul was occupied on 14 October 1914 by the 19th Brigade and the 4th Division. It became an important railhead, air depot and hospital centre, with the 2nd, 3rd, 8th, 11th, 53rd, 1st Canadian and 1st Australian Casualty Clearing Stations quartered in it for considerable periods. It was a Corps headquarters until July 1917, when it was severely bombed and shelled, and after the Battle of Bailleul (13-15 April 1918), it fell into German hands and was not retaken until 30 August 1918.
The earliest Commonwealth burials at Bailleul were made at the east end of the communal cemetery and in April 1915, when the space available had been filled, the extension was opened on the east side of the cemetery. The extension was used until April 1918, and again in September, and after the Armistice graves were brought in from the neighbouring battlefields.
BAILLEUL COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION contains 4,403 Commonwealth burials of the First World War; 11 of the graves made in April 1918 were destroyed by shell fire and are represented by special memorials. There are also 17 British burials of the Second World War (all 1940) and 154 German burials from both wars (10 of which are Second World War).
During the Second World War the cemetery suffered major bomb damage that necessitated the replacement of nearly 200 headstones after the war.
Both the Commonwealth plot in the communal cemetery and the extension were designed by Sir Herbert Baker.
His photo was posted the next day in the Manchester Evening News on Friday 14th December 1917;
FALLEN FIGHTERS.
Pte. WILLIAM THOMPSON, King's Liverpools, 28, Mora-street, Moston, died of wounds December 7.
He earned his two medals
His son was three years old when William died. His widow Florence, living at 60 Queens Road, Harpurhey, Manchester, and later 28 Mora Street, Moston, Manchester, received William’s Army effects, Army Pay £7 4s 7d, War Gratuity of £13-10s, and a pension of £1-0s-5d for herself and her child. She later moved to 17 Aston Avenue, Wilbraham Road Estate, Manchester.
On the 1921 Census at 28 Mora Street, Moston, war widow, Florence, was recorded living with her married sister Florence Doncaster and family, however, the entry was voided for some reason. Her son, William, is aged 6.
Killed On This Day.
(110 Years this day)Sunday 20th August 1916.
Cpl 16646 Albert James Campbell
26 years old
(110 Years this day)
Sunday 20th August 1916.
L/Cpl 16799 Joseph Currie
20 years old
(110 Years this day)
Sunday 20th August 1916.
Pte 23385 George Hyland
39 years old
(110 Years this day)
Sunday 20th August 1916.
Pte 22484 Frank Moody
21 years old
(110 Years this day)
Sunday 20th August 1916.
Pte 26101 John Daniel Quinn
35 years old
(110 Years this day)
Sunday 20th August 1916.
Pte 11621 Alexander Rockliffe
20 years old
(110 Years this day)
Sunday 20th August 1916.
Pte 32618 Samuel Maddack Roe
18 years old