Soldier Record
William Eccles Holt
Contributed by: Carole Ramsey, on 2008-11-12
| Rank | |
|---|---|
| First Name | William Eccles |
| Surname | Holt |
| Year of Birth | 1876 |
| Year of Death | 1916 |
| Regiment | King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) |
| Place of Wartime Residence | Fleetwood, Lancashire |
William Eccles's Story
My great grandad fought in the Boer war with the Royal North Lancashire regiment when he was 19. He was involved in the relief of Kimberley going back home to Heywood in Lancashire in 1901.
I did not have the priviledge to know my great grandad but feel very proud of him
He joined the King's Own Royal Lancaster in 1914 when he was 38 and went to France on 15 February 1915 as a sergeant. He fought in the first battle of Ypres where he was gassed but we think he remained with his battalion.
Around March 1916, he went home to England on leave but was back within a few weeks and was involved in the build up to the great battle of the Somme. He survived the fierce fighting of July and August in the trenches around Delville Wood and High Wood, but on 9th September 1916 he was in a working party returning from a night's work when they were hit by a shell. He was killed along with 5 others.
He left his wife, Jessie (aged 26), 2 daughters (aged 5 and 3), and 8 weeks after he died his little boy was born. He was named William Eccles Holt after his father.
He is buried in Delville Wood Cemetery near Longueville, Northern France.
No additional memories have been submitted