William Sefton

Private William Sefton enlisted on 25th March 1913 at Rotherham, he was aged 18 years and 5 months, he was a collier and was living with his next of kin his mother Sarah Ann Sefton at 6 Cavendish Street, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. He was posted to the 6th battalion York and Lancaster Regiment. He was embodied for war on 5th August 1914 and landed in France on 26th October 1915. He was killed in action on 29th September 1916 and is buried at Regina Trench cemetery, Grandcourt, France.

Article published in the Hucknall Dispatch on 9th August 1917 :- “Dear Madam, in making enquiries about Private Sefton we have had an account which I am sure you will wish to see, although it gives us no final information. I am very much afraid that Private Sefton must have lost his life, but so far no-one has been able to say exactly what happened. “The following account was given [to] us by Cpl. J. O’Neil, 21044, D. Co., 13th [Section] 6th York and Lancasters in King George Hospital, Stamford street, London, S.E., home address 5, Court, 2, House, Pond street, Sheffield.: – “I do not know what became of Sefton in the end. He was my pal, and went over the parapet with me. The German machine guns were playing all across our lines, and the casualties were very heavy. Sefton got across all right, but went back with a message. When he was about seven yards away from us he was hit in the head. Somebody rushed forward, bandaged him up, gave him some water, and then he appeared able to walk back with a message. He called to us, “Good-bye boys, I’m off to Blighty,” and started off to the dressing station. As he was never seen again it was concluded that a shell had killed him along the way. This happened near Mouquet Farm.” “We notice that this agrees with what you heard from the officer, and we cannot help fearing that your son must have lost his life on the way back on his way back as Cpl. O’ Neil suggests. We are still trying to learn more, and shall let you know at once if we hear anything further.” Another letter was received by his sister, Emily, from a comrade who described his death as “instantaneous and without pain”. “Dear Emily, – I hope you will excuse me for not writing a few lines to you before now, as I received a letter of yours nearly two months ago while we were in the trenches. During September there was severe fighting in the part [of the line] we were in, and I had bad news to tell you about your brother, Will. I suppose you will have already had the bad news officially from the War Office. He was shot through the head by a sniper while carrying a message from the front line, and his death was instantaneous and without pain. I would have been able to inform you a good while back, only I have made all enquiries about him, and got all news of him that it was possible to get. I saw him a few hours before he was killed. His company was going into the line, and I happened to be coming away, and I had a chat with five (Company D) signallers, of which Will was one. Two were killed, one wounded, and one missing, and one strained his knee falling into a shell hole. The signal section shares with you the sorrow at the loss of your brother, who was greatly liked by all the signallers. He was a great friend of mine, and I am very sorry that our friendship has been cut so short. On behalf of his pals I send our deepest sympathy to your mother and dad, and share with you all in the sorrow of the loss of your dear one, who has made the supreme sacrifice for his King and country. I remain yours truly, GEORGE HY. HEPWORTH Above articles are courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918.