Willie Britton
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Willie Britton was the eldest child of John Britton and Ellen Hewis who married at Nottingham in 1893. Their children were: Willie (b.1895), Bernard (b.1896), Ellen (b.1899), John Charles (b.1905), Annie Elizabeth (b.1908), Minnie (b.1910) and Harold (b.1913). In 1901 the family could be found living at 3 Railway Court, Old Radford. The Brittons later moved to Selston where they could be found in 1911. However by 1913 they had moved back to Nottingham, given that Harold, their youngest child, was born here rather than in Selston. A postwar address for them would be 5 Lambert Street, Hyson Green [CWGC]. John Britton, who was a coal miner, appears to have died in Nottingham aged 79 in 1951, while his wife, Ellen, predeceased him dying at Nottingham aged 71 in 1947.
L. Cpl. Britton volunteered for service and following training he was drafted to France. The battalion took part in the fighting during the Battle of the Somme in September 1916. The Germans held a key redoubt called the Quadrilateral, east of Ginchy. On 13/09/1916 they advanced in order to capture the redoubt, but were forced to dug in short of their objective having come under heavy machine guns fire. They held the position during the following days, but were constantly shelled. L. Cpl. Britton was killed in action on 16/09/1916 and his body was never recovered. His name was commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
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