BIDDLE, William B

William Biddle was born in Stourbridge and attended Hill Street Council School. He lived at 9 Hanbury Passage, Stourbridge, with his wife, Ada, and worked for Bateman's, the sawyers. He was also a scholar of the nearby Baptist chapel. He volunteered for the Worcesters in November 1914 and was posted in February 1915 to the 2nd Battalion in Artois and in the front line near Béthune. In May they fought in the Battle of Festubert and in September at Loos. They passed the winter of early 1916 in the same area near Cambrin and Givenchy. In March this was a quiet sector but the trenches were water-logged and enemy shelling intermittent. Private William Biddle was killed in action on the 21st March when he sustained a bullet in the head from a sniper. He was 33 years of age and is buried at Cambrin church Cemetery Extension (G 51) and commemorated on the Stourbridge, St. Thomas's church, Baptist chapel and Greenfields school Memorials.