KNOTT, William

William Knott enlisted in the Worcesters and was posted to the 10th Battalion. This battalion endured the Battles of the Somme in 1916 and Passchendaele in 1917. In 1918 it survived the first German Spring offensive of the 21st March 1918, when the battalion was forced into a long retreat. It was then transferred to the quiet front line south of Ypres only to be faced with the second German offensive of the 9th April on the Lys. The troops were driven back from the Messines Ridge and on the 14th April were holding Neuve Eglise. In the attempt to halt the next German attack Private William Knott was one of many Worcesters killed in action on the 18th April. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot and Stourbridge Memorials.