COOPER, J William

William Cooper was the son of Albert and Emma Cooper of 35 Sheffield Street, Quarry Bank, and volunteered for the Worcesters as soon as Kitchener appealed for new troops. He joined the 9th (Service) Battalion who were in training for nearly a year and then sent out to Gallipoli to break the stalemate on the peninsula. They landed successfully at Suvla Bay on the 6th August and attempted to seize the crest of the ridge. Turkish defence was fierce but, though close by the 10th, the Worcesters were driven off by the defenders and Private William Cooper was killed in action. He was 20 years of age and is commemorated on the Helles, Lye and Wollescote and Lye church Memorials.