Private 49362 William Lloyd

Died France & Flanders on Saturday, 21st April 1917, age 42.
Buried in Grave I. C. 5. at Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery, Somme, France.

4th (Labour) Bn., Devonshire Regiment.

Son of Samuel Augustus Lloyd.
Born: Tipton, Enlisted: Lichfield, Resident: Smethwick.

First landed France & Flanders, post 31st December 1915.
Medal entitlement: British War Medal, Victory Medal.
Soldier's Papers at National Archives did not survive.

Not commemorated on any Tipton memorial.
Commemorated here because identified as Tipton on 'Soldiers Died in the Great War'.

Link to Commonwealth War Graves Site: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/260640/

Genealogical Data

1901 Census
12 Rose Terrace, Heath Street, Birmingham.
Catherine Lloyd (43, Widow, Charwoman, born Stourport), and her 4 children: William (24, Brass Caster, born Tipton), Florence (19, born Tipton), Agnes (16, born Tipton), and Thomas (11, born Tipton).

1911 Census
7 back of 226 Heath Street, Winson Green, Birmingham.
Living with Mr Edward William Bateman-Bartlett and Mrs Pamelia Amelia Bateman-Bartlett was William Henry Llloyd (35, Brother-in-Law, Yard Labourer, born Tipton). Pamelia was William's younger sister.

Personal Data

After William's death, his outstanding army pay and allowances amounted to £4/13/10d (4 pounds 13 shillings and 10 pence); this was paid to his mother, Catherine E. Lloyd, in January 1918. His War Gratuity was £3/0/0d (3 pounds exactly), this was also paid to his mother, in November 1919. The value of the War Gratuity suggests that William had enlisted within the 12 months prior to his death.

A Dependant's Pension Card exists for William with Mrs Catherine E. Lloyd, his mother, as the beneficiary but no pension amount is recorded. Catherine's address at that time was 35 Norman Street, Winson Green, Birmingham.

Action resulting in his death

The Commonwealth War Graves record William serving with the 4th (Labour) Battalion, Devonshire Regiment. There was not a 4th (Labour) Battalion for the Devons, the 1/4th and 2/4th Battalions were Territorial units and served in India and Mesopotamia whereas William died in France where neither of these units served. It is distinctly possible that William's unit should say 14th (Labour) Battalion. The Commonwealth War Graves archives has a Graves Registration Report Form which had William shown originally as "10 Devon Lab Bn" but the '10' is crossed out and '4' hand-written above. The intention may have been to cross out the '0' only, intending to change from '10' to '14'.

The 14th (Labour) Battalion War Diary is very light on detail. The Battalion landed at Le Havre on 5th October 1916 and were allocated as labour troops to Third Army. After a few days, they entrained to Savy (Savy-Berlette) which was the Third Army rail-head, HQ was located in Beaufort (Beaufort-Blavincourt) which is about 12 miles west of Arras.

The Companies were distributed over a wide area according to need for labour. Road mending and wood cutting were mentioned, often under the control of Royal Engineers. The War Diary mentions that during April 1917, 'A' Company was working at Duisans and 'B' Company at Magnicourt, but we do not know what Company WIlliam served with.

William's Pension Card records that he died of "Cerebral Abscess" on 21st April 1917. William is likely to have died at either the 39th or 13th Casualty Clearing Stations which were located at Gailly during the early part of 1917, and he was buried at Cerisy-Gailly Military Cemetery.

Newspaper Cuttings

None.