CHILDS William John

William Childs enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 6th March 1916 at Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. On his attestation paper he gave his place of birth as Droitwich, England, his age as 23 years 1 month, his occupation as a farm labourer and his next of kin as his father, Wm John Childs, Elmley Lovett, Droitwich, England. He was 5 feet 2 and a half inches tall with a fresh complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. William was in England from 11th August 1916 until 9th May 1917 when he left No 12 Camp, Durrington to proceed overseas to France, arriving in Etaples on 10th May 1917. He was killed in action 5 months later on 12th October 1917. According to his service records he was buried 100 yards S.E. of track from Waterfields to Crest Farm. During the course of the continuing hostilities, William’s grave was lost and he is commemorated on the Ypres Menin Gate Memorial to the missing.

Australian Service Records Reference: Barcode 3243648 Series Accession No B2455 Location: Canberra
Accessed via: https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/

A photograph of Private W.J. Childs of Worcester can be found in Berrow’s Worcester Journal Supplement, Saturday 17th November 1917, available at Worcestershire Archives.

William Childs has no known grave, the photograph available shows his name on the Ypres Menin Gate Memorial.