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5205 Machine Gun Corps
William Matthews was born on 30 October 1887 in Blakenhall, Wolverhampton. He was the eldest of two sons of Charles and Alice Matthews (née Beddoes). In 1901 the family was living in Norton-in-Hales, Shropshire, his father was employed as a domestic butler and William attended Norton-in-Hales Public School. By 1911 his widowed mother had moved the family to Market Drayton and William was a shop assistant in the local ironmongery alongside his brother Herbert.
It is not known when he moved to Sudbury but prior to enlisting William was employed at Dupont and Orttewells, Wholesale and Retail Ironmongers; their shop stood at the bottom of Market Hill on the corner of Burkitts Lane and Gainsborough Street. He was very well known at the Sudbury Conservative Club where he was a member; his name was recorded on their Roll of Honour.
William enlisted in Sudbury on 30 July 1915 and served with the Suffolk Regiment (formerly 21253) before transferring later that year to the Machine Gun Corps which was formed on 22 October 1915 in response to the need for a more effective use of machine guns on the western front.
William joined the British Expeditionary Force in France in February 1916. A report in the Suffolk and Essex Free Press on 8 November 1916 after his death describes William: ‘A member of St. Peter’s choir from the day he came to Sudbury until he was drafted, ever consistent, trusty and true’. His Commanding Officer wrote in a letter to William’s parents: ‘We were holding the line just before the attack on Guillemot and the Germans counter attacked. Your son died like a hero at his gun, while the fire was still being kept up by the few remaining men of the gun team of which he was in command. The Germans shelled us very heavily indeed’.
William was killed in action on 24 August 1916. There is no known grave and he is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. He was awarded the British War Medal and Victory Medal.
A Cross of Remembrance was laid at the Thiepval Memorial in April 2006 and April 2009.
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