TAYLOR, William

William Taylor was born in Lye but by 1914 he had moved to Stourbridge. He was an early volunteer and joined the 1st Battalion of the Worcesters in 1915. The Worcesters took a prominent role in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle on the 10-12th March and then in the diversionary attack at Bois Grenier for the Battle of Loos on the 25th September. They remained in Artois but shifted south in March 1916 to Souchez near Vimy Ridge when the British army took over the front line vacated by the French. There were no battles, but the front line trenches were in poor condition, the weather was cold and the German shelling continuous. It was during a tour of duty in the trenches that Private William Taylor was injured and taken to a Field Ambulance at Aix-Noulette where he died on the 9th April. He was 20 years of age and is buried in Bois de Noulette Cemetery (1 A 1). He is commemorated on the Lye and Wollescote, Stourbridge and St. Thomas's church, Stourbridge, Memorials.