William Henry Dawtry - World War One Death Penny

William Henry Dawtry was born and lived his childhood at 24 St. Leonard’s Street before leaving school and joining the Army. As a regular soldier and in barracks on the Isle of Wight in the summer of 1914 he was a member of the British Expeditionary Force that sailed for France and moved north towards Mons in August 1914.

As a member of the Royal Army Medical Corp attached to a Cavalry Regiment, he was very close to the front line when he was killed in action from shrapnel wounds on September 29th 1914.

William has no known grave and his name is recorded close to where he fell at Seine-et-Marne LA FETTE-SOUS JOUARRE Memorial. He was buried in a field near Villers En Prayeres close to a sugar factory on the River Aisne.

In the words of Rupert Brooke

If I should die, think only this of me:

That there’s some corner of a foreign field:

That is for ever England …

William is remembered on the War Memorial in St George’s Church and the Town’s War Memorial in Broad Street.