KNOWLES, William Edwin

William Knowles was the son of William and Jane Knowles of Colley Gate, Cradley, and enlisted, probably in 1917, in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He went to the 14th Battalion which was deeply involved in the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917 in the fight along the Menin Road for Polderhoek Chateau. In November they were sent to aid the Italian army on the River Piave. When the danger had gone, they returned to the Western Front to reinforce the armies driven back in the German Spring Offensive of March 1918. They arrived as the Battle of the Lys started on the 9th April and their sector was the Forest of Nieppe and the village of Thiennes. A fierce battle lasted for three days and the enemy attack was halted. Trench warfare and shelling continued for six weeks and casualties followed. Private William Knowles was killed in action on the 29th May. He was 19 years of age and is buried at Thiennes Cemetery (A 15) and commemorated on the Cradley and Halesowen Memorials.