Description
Object description
Cap, Service Dress, 1905 pattern: O/Rs, Worcestershire Regiment
Physical description
cap
History note
This cap was worn by Company Sergeant Major William Williams who died as a result of wounds sustained during the First Battle of Ypres, 1914.
A pre-war regular, Williams joined the British Army at Bury in January, 1896, aged 19 and 11 months. A Pattern Maker by civilian trade, he was but 5 feet, 5¼ inches tall when he attested, enlisting into The Worcestershire Regiment. In September 1898 he was promoted to Lance Corporal, his second stripe being awarded in December the following year, just days before embarking for active service in South Africa. Landing at Cape Town in January 1900, he served there for the remainder of the war with the 2nd Battalion, initially on the Western Front (Cape Colony, and the Orange Free State) and later in the Transvaal. Promoted again in June of 1900, Sergeant Williams later went on to serve in Ceylon and then to India, promoted again, to Colour Sergeant. A qualified marksman C/Sgt Williams was clearly a rising personality within the Battalion.
In August 1914 the Battalion was quartered at Aldershot but by the 14th of that month had landed at Boulogne, forming part of the 5th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Division (First Corps) of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). Now a Company Sergeant Major (CSM) Williams was the epitome of the type of NCO that formed the 'back-bone' of the British Army, and in the weeks that followed it was men such as he that helped to galvanised the cohesion and spirit of the men against a formidable opponent.
On 31 October the German Army launched an attack on the Menin Road and the strategically important town of Ypres was under threat. With many units forced to retire and the line in peril of disintegration, only through the timely intervention of the last reserve troops, just 364 survivors of 2nd Worcestershire Regiment, that the situation was restored following their charge against 1,200 enemy at the village of Gheluvelt. The Battalion lost a third of its number crossing the open ground but following the sharp and aggressive action the Germans retreated. Once reinforcements arrived the line was stabilized and Ypres was able to hold out, but the cost was great, including the loss of CSM Williams,who succumbed to his wounds on 8th November.