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William Henry Morgan
William Henry Morgan was born in Frampton during the spring of 1876; his parents were William Frederick Home Morgan, a bricklayer, and Jane née Evans. The family were in Slimbridge for part of William's childhood, but they returned to live on Perryway, in a house (now Perryway Cottage) with two sitting rooms and four bedrooms; an adjoining workshop was used by William's father for his building business. After leaving school William became a shop assistant in clothing and footwear, and by 1911 he had his own shop and was living in Sharpness.
William is said to have volunteered for the Army during 1915, but could not have seen active service before 1916 for he was not awarded the 1914-15 Star. He made his will on 12 September 1916, perhaps just before he joined the 16th (Service) Battalion (Church Lads' Brigade) of the King's Royal Rifle Corps on the borders of France and Belgium. He would have been active through the battles on the Somme, at Arras and Ypres. The first few weeks of 1918 may, therefore, have seemed relatively quiet. It was in the days leading up to the German offensive on the Lys that Rifleman William Henry Morgan was killed, on 21 March, reportedly by a 'bomb', which would probably have meant a mortar shell, rather than an aircraft bomb. He was interred at Ypres Reservoir Cemetery, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. According to the Cheltenham Chronicle, he was mourned by many friends at Sharpness, having seen much active service overseas. William was posthumously awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal, and his ultimate sacrifice is commemorated on Frampton's war memorial and the plaque in the village hall. |