Description
Physical description
Jacket
Single-breasted four-pocket service jacket made of khaki serge with stand and fall collar. The jacket features brass crested General Service (GS) buttons and bears the ribbons of the Queen's South Africa and King's South Africa campaign medals sewn above the left breast pocket. There are chevrons sewn to both sleeves indicating the rank of sergeant.
Label
This British Army tunic was worn during the early months of the First World War by Sergeant William Williams, a pre-war Regular who had earlier served in the Second Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. Sergeant Williams died of wounds on 8 November 1914, during the desperate fighting associated with the defence of Ypres. His unit, the 2nd Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment, repulsed a German attack at Gheluvelt during a vital moment of the First Battle of Ypres 1914.
History note
This jacket 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.
