Bill had grown up at 12, West Parade and had enlisted in Hull into the 10^th East Yorkshire Regt., otherwise known as the 1^st Hull Pals, as it was a battalion formed by the City of Hull in September 1914.  He was not one of the first thousand to join, but was presumably attached to them at some later date, probably when they arrived in France in February 1916 having come from Egypt.  He served with them throughout the first half of the Somme campaign, having to act as a stretcher bearer on the 1^st July 1916 for all the wounded, a truly horrendous experience given the carnage that was seen on that day. 

          Eventually he died, when the battalion had been moved to Belgium (although allegedly to a quieter sector of the front!) and is buried in St. Vaast Post Military Cemetery.