THE FORGOTTEN FALLEN
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WILLIAM GEORGE ABBEY Private 57274 4th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment
Died of Wounds aged 19 30th September 1918
Buried at Haringhe (Bandaghem) Military Cemetery
Poperinge, Belgium
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William Abbey’s birth in early 1899 was registered in St Albans. The 1901 census shows the family living in 5 Oak Road, Church End, Willesden and identifies that he was born in Loxton, which is near Kings Langley, in Middlesex, the son of John and Kate Abbey. Father John, then aged 30, is described as a Haybinder and it also shows that his mother was born in Cublington. William had a sister, four years older than him, named Evelyn, and brother Joseph just two years older. The 1911 census shows the family living in Stockaway in Weedon with younger sisters Winifred and new baby, Phyllis, together with younger brothers Cecil and Horace. William was then aged 13. A family of 8 lived in a 3-roomed house. The places where the children were born show that the family moved about in Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire during this period. William enlisted in Oxford; however, his British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Card shows that he was previously Private 71559 in the Royal Berkshire Regiment. Other records show that the family were living in New Road, Weedon at the time of his death. John and Kate had another child Grace Elizabeth, who was born 24th July 1918.
The war in Belgium centred around Ypres and Poperinge was behind the lines with many field hospitals and resting areas. Three cemeteries nearby were colloquially called ‘mendingthem’, ‘dozingthem’ and ‘bandingthem’ by the troops. William is buried in Haringhe Military Cemetery (Bandaghem) which is near to the village of Haringhe, in the middle of what is now agricultural land, some 18 kilometres north west of Ypres. Wind-blown and isolated from the rest of the area, it is maintained to a very high standard by the local gardeners and helpers. Simple fencing retains the area of the graves with a Cross of Remembrance at one end and a stone plinth in the centre of the area. The cemetery contains 811 burials from the battles of 1917/18. Of these 742 are British, 30 Commonwealth and 39 German. William was part of the advance from Ypres along the Menin Road to the Battle of Koelenburg Ridge, which was taken on the day he died. It is reported that William’s brother Joseph, who served in and survived the Great War, was a member of the committee who raised money for the provision of the War Memorial in Weedon. |
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GO TO Forgotten Fallen list for more biographies of the men commemorated on the Weedon War Memorial.
