I managed to locate the front line trench position outside Ovillers from which the 2nd Battalion The Royal Berkshire Regiment went over the top on the first morning of the Battle of the Somme. Moments before this happened, they would have been showered with debris from the nearby explosion; now the Lochnagar crater. The ground must have shook, to add to the occasion. William was listed as Missing after the battle and it was 16 days before the British forces managed to capture Ovillers. I have no idea if William's body was ever recovered from No Man's Land and placed in a grave to an unknown soldier; there are quite a few in local cemeteries from his Regiment, so I hope so. In any case, he paid the ultimate price whilst serving his country. I'm making sure this information is passed down to the next generation, so that his sacrifice and that of so many others, is not forgotten!

Andrew May