William's Story.
William, born in the early summer of 1893, was the son of Frank Higgins (1871 - 1957) and Alice Kennerley (1868 - 1911). He was elder brother to Evelyn (1895–1983), Olive (1897–1944), Ada Elizabeth (1900–1968), Winifred Mary (1902–1988) and Frank (1905–1968). William's mother Alice died in 1911, when William was 18 years old, and his father married Eunice Elizabeth Birkerton (1872–1951) in 1913. William then gained a half-sister, Joan (1914 - 2004).
In April 1911, William (18) was working as a dairyman on Manor Farm, Alsager, for the Heler family. His home address at the time of his enlistment on 22nd April 1915 was Rose Farm, Close Lane, Alsager. (By 1921, his father and stepmother had moved to Haslington, but their address there was also Rose Farm.)
Before the war, he took a job as a 'motor car driver' and with this skill he enlisted with the Army Service Corp (Military Transport) in Coventry on 22nd April 1915. His army number was M2/079437. His service record states he was 5 feet 5 inches tall, had fair complexion and a chest measurement of 32 inches. He was unmarried.
William was based in Devon for a short period before embarkation to France on S.S. Onward on 12th July 1915. He was attached to X1 Corps before transferring to 50 Army Service Corps (ACS) on 7th August 1916. He spent a short period working in the ASC Repair Shop before being attached to 72 Field Ambulance (RAMC) working near the front line in the Ypres Salient.
On 25th July 1917, he was hit by a shell and received wounds to his neck and head. He died later that day. He was 24 years old. He is buried at the Dickebusch New Military Cemetery Extension, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium in plot III. F. 1.
He had been at home on leave shortly before his death, and he had spoken to his family very hopefully about peace, and returning home before the end of the year.
William was posthumously awarded the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal.
William is remembered on the Alsager War Memorial. (NB He has no known connection to "Gunner J Higgins" whose name also appears on another face of the memorial, although William had an uncle James Henry Higgins, born 1879, who had enlisted as a gunner in the Royal Artillery in 1900, regimental number 5706. However, that Gunner James Henry Higgins married Edith Bayes in 1919, and was still alive at the time of the 1921 census, so is almost certainly not the J Higgins on the memorial.)
Research by Shena Lewington (September 2026)
In April 1911, William (18) was working as a dairyman on Manor Farm, Alsager, for the Heler family. His home address at the time of his enlistment on 22nd April 1915 was Rose Farm, Close Lane, Alsager. (By 1921, his father and stepmother had moved to Haslington, but their address there was also Rose Farm.)
Before the war, he took a job as a 'motor car driver' and with this skill he enlisted with the Army Service Corp (Military Transport) in Coventry on 22nd April 1915. His army number was M2/079437. His service record states he was 5 feet 5 inches tall, had fair complexion and a chest measurement of 32 inches. He was unmarried.
William was based in Devon for a short period before embarkation to France on S.S. Onward on 12th July 1915. He was attached to X1 Corps before transferring to 50 Army Service Corps (ACS) on 7th August 1916. He spent a short period working in the ASC Repair Shop before being attached to 72 Field Ambulance (RAMC) working near the front line in the Ypres Salient.
On 25th July 1917, he was hit by a shell and received wounds to his neck and head. He died later that day. He was 24 years old. He is buried at the Dickebusch New Military Cemetery Extension, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium in plot III. F. 1.
He had been at home on leave shortly before his death, and he had spoken to his family very hopefully about peace, and returning home before the end of the year.
William was posthumously awarded the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal.
William is remembered on the Alsager War Memorial. (NB He has no known connection to "Gunner J Higgins" whose name also appears on another face of the memorial, although William had an uncle James Henry Higgins, born 1879, who had enlisted as a gunner in the Royal Artillery in 1900, regimental number 5706. However, that Gunner James Henry Higgins married Edith Bayes in 1919, and was still alive at the time of the 1921 census, so is almost certainly not the J Higgins on the memorial.)
Research by Shena Lewington (September 2026)