ATKINS, William

William Atkins was the son of James and Agnes Atkins of 72 Lawnswood Road, Wordsley, and his father was caretaker of the Lawnswood Road Council School. He served in the 152nd Brigade Royal Field Artillery which was in Artois in 1917. It was engaged in the April Battles of Arras and continued after the earlier successes until the last phase which opened on the 3rd May. It was a complex night attack over the churned up ground of previous fighting. The enemy artillery was strongly engaged in counter-battery shelling and this was probably how William Atkins received his serious wounds. He was taken to the 8th Casualty Clearing Station at Duisans on the outskirt of Arras, where he died on the same day. Gunner William Atkins was 23 years of age and is buried in Duisans Military Cemetery (IV B 39) and commemorated on the Wordsley Memorial.