Private William Edward Lloyd
678619
Born 1883, Manchester, England
Lived in Toronto, ON
Enlisted with 169th Battalion – served with the 116th Battalion
Killed in Action on August 28, 1917 at Hill 70
The unbounded tragedy of war continues to stun and stagger. Sometimes its’ fickle sword strikes once, cuts deep and then while it leaves the victim wounded, whether it be physical or mental, the victim does just what we most hope to see. They survive. While the struggle to carry on may be constant it is rarely insurmountable. However, for those who lived and survived in the time of the Great War, many were forced to bear a sad successive series of strikes that would break a contemporary. War tends to harden the soul…whether it be a parent, a grandparent or a child. The story of Private William Edward Lloyd is a tragedy that reaches across the ages.
William Edward Lloyd, while born in Manchester moved at an early age with his family to Llandudno, Wales. His childhood would have been a majestic one, whereby the youngster and his siblings would grow up in a area of the country lined with ancient castles and historic places. It would be a wonderful place for a child to let their imagination rule their play…with short visits to nearby Conwy Castle or Caernarfon Castle acting as the virtual Disneyland for Welsh youngsters. Add the fact that they lived a block from the ocean and the envy for such a fortunate youngster is a wee bit overwhelming.
William grew up in a household where he was the eldest of nine children. When he reached the age of 29 he migrated to Canada where he and his wife Helen looked to start a family together. They wasted no time and in May of 1912 Helen gave birth to their first child, Margaret. In 1914, Elizabeth followed and a year later William Edward Jr was born. William was working as a stonecutter during these early years and with the significant amount of growth occurring in Toronto at that time, his skills would have been in high demand. The family bought a lovely small bungalow house in the Dovercourt neighborhood of Toronto. With a young household brimming with the typical wail emitted by babes and toddlers, it would have been a busy time for the new parents. By the time the winter of 1915/1916 arrived the question would have begun to dominate in their household. On the one side there was the monumental and overbearing combined pressures of duty, expectation, and honour. On the other side was the competing convocation of clatter emitted from three of the most beautiful creatures sleeping mere steps away from the couple and the responsibility to provide for and raise them.
When the decision was made, William did what so many fathers did…he went. On Jan 24th, 1916, William became Private William Edward Lloyd of the 169thCanadian Infantry Battalion. By this time William’s younger brother John was already over in England serving with the 14th Canadian Battalion. His two other brothers, David and James were serving with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. While the other Lloyd brothers were all younger and still single, William was the only one who had four mouths to feed back home.
The war experiences of David and James Lloyd are not well known. The limited amount of available information on the service histories is an unfortunate circumstance for most of those who served with the BEF in the Great War. Researchers of Canadians who fought and served in the Great War can consult with a myriad of records that have been saved, stored, and now digitized for easy access. However, this is because Canada was never bombed by the Hitler’s Luftwaffe. Canadian soldier, Private John Lloyd record’s survived and they reveal that he received a head wound from shrapnel in May of 1916 and quickly followed that up by contracting Tuberculosis. John was sent home to Canada to recuperate, however he had an early death dying at the age of 35 in 1925. His brother James also survived the war, however also died at an early age, and passed away in 1925. David appears to have been the lucky one making it to the ripe old age of 65 yrs. old.
William Edward Lloyd story is not uncommon nor unique. As the 116th was nearby broken up in its’ entirely with men being transferred to the 2nd, 3rd, 18th and 19th Battalions, its’ commanding officer, Samuel Simpson Sharpe was able to save the unit and on Dec 31st a Company of men from the 169th Battalion join the 116th. William was part of this draft and soon found himself in Flanders, training for war. Most of the time between Feb 1917 and August 1917, William and the 116th was use as a pioneer battalion. Their job was to dig trenches, install new communications wiring and repair or maintain supply roads. William’s first real test would have been on the 25th of July when the Battalion conducted the raid on German trenches at Avion. This was followed by their request to quickly relieve the men who had fallen during the battle of Hill 70 on August 22nd. Six days after being tossed into one of the deadliest battles for the Canadians in the war, William was with the men ordered to hold the front lines. The details behind his death are unknown however a news clipping related that 5 of his chums carried the slain man off the field of battle. It further states that he was given a military funeral as he was laid to rest in Aix-Noulette Cemetery outside Lens, France.
New of her husband’s death reached Helen around the 18thof September. Devastating as it was, she had to carry on. All the war widows had to. With three toddlers in her stead, it was her responsibility to continue to raise and support them. However, the records show that tragedy struck the three children only 7 years later when their mother died of a burst appendix. The task of carrying on was now passed along to the kids. The trio had lost a father they barely knew and now with Margaret 13, Elizabeth 11 and wee William 9 had now lost their mom too. Thankfully, the story of the Lloyd family is not all tragic…while William died relatively young the two sisters were able to live long lives. One hopes that this story reaches their descendants to be reminded of the sacrifices their grandparents made for them.
Remember them.