Other Information:William enlisted on 29th August 1914. He was 30 years old, a labourer by trade, and living in Newbold, Chesterfield, Derbyshire at the time. He joined the unit at Tweseldown on 7th September 1914, then entered the war in France on 21st May 1915. He was killed in the First Battle of Passchendaele. According to the book ‘With the Forty Fourths’, “The bearers worked very hard in this sector, although the heavy fighting was on the Passchendaele side. The carrying was in long stages, and very difficult and risky.... On the first day that the bearers went up, the 12th, Bill Wykes and Fry were killed. Poor Bill! there was no worthier fellow.” William was the son of George and Margaret Wykes of 1 Highfield Cottage, Newbold, Chesterfield; and the husband of Elizabeth Zenobia Wykes of 4 Spencer Street, Chesterfield.
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