William John Killick 1891 – 1916
William was the son of Horace and Annie Killick. He was born in 1891 in Ovingdene in Sussex and the family by 1911 had moved to Cantley Lodge in Wokingham, where father Horace was a servant and William, a shop assistant in a grocery store. During the war William was living in Reading, but we do not know if he was still living with his parents.
He joined the Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment 7th Battalion, enlisting in Guildford. The 7th was a new army battalion and were in France by July 1915.
Their battle honours tell of fighting throughout France and Belgium and William, a Sergeant by this time, was killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on the 1st July 1916. The regimental war diaries tells us of the fighting in which William was killed:
‘At 7.30 a.m. The Battn assaulted the German trenches to the front of left half of A 1 Sub sector on a front of about 400 yards – After 12 hours fighting the final objective west of MONTAUBAN was reached and consolidated on a front of about 260 yards. Killed-174, wounded 284, missing 56. Battn Held objective gained during night, establishing touch with 8th E, Surrey Regt on its right and 8th Norfolk regt, on its left’.
Name: KILLICK, WILLIAM JOHN
Initials: W J
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Sergeant
Regiment/Service: The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment)
Unit Text: 7th Bn.
Date of Death: 01/07/1916
Service No: G/2226
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Pier and Face 5 D and 6 D.
Memorial: THIEPVAL MEMORIAL
92 Pitcroft Avenue, Reading
Cantley Lodge, Wokingham, Berkshire