William James Wishart 1888 – 1918...

...was born at Berwick upon Tweed in Northumberland in August 1888. He was the son of Walter and Emma (nee Simms) Wishart. His mother is my great grand aunt and sister to my great grandfather, Edwin Daniel Simms.

William was the sixth of nine children. He had three brothers and five sisters. The brothers; Walter John born 1876, joined the Royal Engineers and became a WO1 (Warrant Officer 1st Class), John Frederick born 1880 died 1906 cause unknown, Henry Albert born 1893, volunteered to join the Royal Navy on 4th January 1913 at the age of 19. He was killed at the Battle of Jutland on May 31st 1916.

William’s father, Walter Wishart, his grandfather Daniel Simms and his uncle Edwin Daniel Simms had all served in the Royal Artillery. His father served for twenty two years which included time in Nova Scotia and Barbados and ended his service as a Battery Sergeant Major, Daniel Simms Served for twenty one years, had served in the Crimean War and received the Crimean war medal along with the clasp for Sevastopol. His uncle Edwin served for twenty one year’s which included five years in South Africa.

William would follow in their footsteps but with tragic consequences.

His Early Life...

At the time of William’s birth in 1888 the family lived in Berwick upon Tweed but by 1891 they were living in Newcastle upon Tyne at 56 Gallowgate and by 1901 had moved to 20 Shuttleworth Street.

In the 1911 census, William was living as a boarder at 237 Monday Street, Newcastle on Tyne and employed at an ordinance factory.

Towards the end of 1913 William married Mary Bulmer. Following their marriage they lived at 185 Stanton Street, Newcastle upon Tyne. It does not appear that they had children.

Military Service...

 Apparently William began his military service with the Army Service Corps Remount Section. Unfortunately without his service record for the A.S.C. it is not known when he joined, however it is likely that this occurred at the beginning of the war if not prior to.

We do know from other documents that William served with the 6th Battalion, the Dorsetshire Regiment but again it has not been possible to find his service record for this regiment and therefore do not know exactly when he transferred from the A.S.C. to the Dorset’s. Nevertheless, using his army number 29827, allocated on joining the Dorset’s, it is reasonable to suggest that the transfer occurred during 1916-1917.

He did not go to France before the end of 1915 as his medal index card shows he did not receive the 1914/15 Star. Despite this lack of detail and regardless of when the transfer took place we know that William was with 6th Dorset’s during the terrible and bloody time of the German “Spring Offensive – Operation Michael” which started on 21st March 1918.

The German Spring Offensive...March-April 1918

William and his Battalion were part of 17th (Northern) Division, V Corps, 3rd Army and were directly in the path of this onslaught as was the 5th Army to the south. Between 21st March and April 5th 1918, the two armies were forced to retreat almost forty miles before they were able to arrest the German advance at enormous cost.

Using the war diary of William’s battalion we can at least follow the events from 21st March during which William would have been involved until his unfortunate death recorded as 15th of April 1918.

In the days leading up to the Spring Offensive on 21st March the 6th Dorset’s occupied positions at Havrincourt situated between Bapaume and Cambrai. Edited Extracts from 6th Dorset’s War Diary commencing 21st March.

March 21st, Havrincourt:  “The German Offensive commenced preceded at 4.45am by an extensive and intensive bombardment – Battalions on our right were attacked and a little ground taken – The 10th West Yorkshire Regt on our immediate right counter attacked and regained all ground lost”. “During the night of 21/22nd March the first withdrawal was made by our troops, which was well carried out”.

March 23rd Havrincourt/Hermies - Rocquigny, "The enemy advanced during the morning of 23rd and made several attacks, one on brigade right flank was made with the assistance of Flammenwerfer (flame throwers) but he made no ground – our intense rifle and Lewis gun fire kept him at bay through out the morning. Between 1.00pm and 2.00pm the Brigade made a further withdrawal to a line near Villers au Flos."

24th March – "The Brigade occupied Rocquigny but were again forced to withdraw in the afternoon to Gueudecourt and by the evening were at L'Abbaye d'Eaucourt north of Flers a distance of about seven miles where they again tried to consolidate the line."

25th March - L'Abbaye d'Eaucourt – “early on the morning of 25th intense machine gun and rifle duels took place between us and the enemy, from the ridges respectively occupied - Enemy sniping was very accurate and our casualties were heavy”.

27th to 31st March - "Once again the battalion was forced to withdraw, fighting rear guard actions from ridge to ridge until eventually they reached Henencourt. They then took up positions on the night of 27th/28th near Bouzincourt just north of Albert where these new positions were held until 31st March. Eventually the remains of the battalion were relieved and returned to Henencourt during the night of 31st March/1st April"

“Casualties during the operation from 21st to 31st March Officers:- killed 3 and 9 wounded Other Ranks:- killed 35 and 128 wounded Missing 56"

"As a result of gallantry in action during the operation 30 recommendations for immediate honours were submitted”.

3rd April – William’s battalion was finally relieved and withdrew to Mirvaux and on 4th April continued on to Pernois.

Authors Note: By 5th April The massive German “Operation Michael” offensive across the front of the British 3rd and 5th armies been halted. This did not mean the fighting had stopped. The British and Commonwealth casualties during this period were enormous, 177,739 killed, wounded and missing.

Referring back to the battalion diary, between 4th and 11th April the battalion received large numbers of replacements including 14 officers 585 other ranks. These men mainly came from disbanded units which had been decimated in the fighting and had to be quickly integrated into the battalion.

On 11th April, the battalion left Pernois with 50th Infantry Brigade for Raincheval a distance of about fifteen miles to take their place in the army reserve close to the new front line and placed on one hours notice to move. 

On 12th April, the battalion moved to Arques.

On 13th April, they prepared to move into the line and on 14th they left Arques and took up positions in and around Mesnil.

15th April - The recorded date of William’s death. Unfortunately the writer of the battalion diary does not record any particular incidents during this day and in a rather matter of fact way states:

“Held the line with “B” Company in front and “D” Company in support.”A” Company defended the locality (at Mesnil Chateau) with “C” Company in reserve in cellars in Mesnil”.

However in Appendix (4) of the diary for April, which is a casualties list, it shows that on 15th April that eight men were killed. Unfortunately it does not provide the names or any details regarding these men’s deaths. We therefore must assume that one of these men was William.

Commemoration...

His name is listed on the Pozieres War Memorial on Panel 48. He has no known grave.

Harry Grey, 3rd December 2024