Pte 24876 William Formby Halsall

• Age: 21
• From: Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• K.I.A Monday 3rd July 1916
• Commemorated at: Thiepval Memorial
  Panel Ref: P&F1D8B &8 C.

24876 Private William Formby HALSALL, 17th Battn KLR – KIA 03.07.1916.

William Halsall was was born in Liverpool on 18th January 1895, the eldest of four children (and the only son) of William Formby Halsall, a house painter, and his wife Elizabeth (nee Jones). He was baptised in Tong, Shropshire on 31st March 1895.

William senior was a Liverpool man while his wife was born in Tong, Shropshire. They married in Tong on 21st April 1894. Their second child, May Elizabeth, was born on 28th May 1897 and christened at St Clements, Toxteth on 13th June 1897 when the parents gave their address as 49 Whittier Street, Toxteth.

The 1901 Census shows the family are living at 49 Whittier Street, Toxteth and by now their third child is 3 months old.

In 1911, William was aged 16 and a junior clerk in a sweet factory, mother Elizabeth is living at 18 Durden Street (off Smithdown Road) with her now 4 children, another daughter having been born, and she gives her place of birth as Tong, Shifnal, Shropshire. There is no reference to her husband although she declares that she is married for 17 years. 

William’s service record has not survived but we know he joined the 17th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 24876 in February 1915.

He was billeted at Prescot Watch Factory, he trained there and also at Knowsley Hall. On 30th April 1915 the 17th Battalion alongside the other three Pals battalions left Liverpool via Prescot Station for further training at Belton Park, Grantham. They remained here until September 1915 when they reached Larkhill Camp on Salisbury Plain.

He arrived in France on 07th November 1915 and he took part on the liberation of Montauban on 01st July before he was killed in action on 03rd July 1916.

A short entry in the Liverpool Express states that when he died he was:

“Just 21 years and prior the war was employed on the office staff of Elder Dempster & Co, He was prominently identified with St Cyprian’s Church, Edge Hill and was the only son of Mr and Mrs Halsall of 27 Brae Street (off Holt Road).”

His death was announced in the Liverpool Echo on 13^th July 1916:  

An Only Son.  

"Private W. F. Halsall, of the King’s Liverpool Regiment, only son of Mr. and Mr. W. Halsall, 27 Brae Street, Liverpool, has been killed in action.  He joined the Pals in Feb., 1915, and spent his 21^st birthday in the trenches.  Before enlisting he was employed by Messrs. Elder, Dempster, and was a prominent member of St. Cyprian’s Church, Edge Hill".

William’s body was not recovered from the battlefield or was subsequently lost as he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.

On 01st August 1932 the Prince of Wales and the President of France inaugurated the Thiepval Memorial in Picardy. The inscription reads: “Here are recorded the names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields between July 1915 and March 1918 but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.”

Soldiers Effects to father William Formby, Pension to mother Elizabeth.

William is commemorated on the following memorials:

Earl Road Council School, Edge Hill

Elder & Dempster Roll of Honour  

St. Cyprian’s C of E Church, Edge Hill

Webster Road School, Edge Hill

His father died in the September quarter of 1930, aged 62.

His mother died in the December quarter of 1947 aged 79

We currently have no further information on William Formby Halsall. If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.