WILLIAM HENRY BARDSLEY 

William Henry's Story.

William was born in Stockport in 1881. He was the first child born to William and Amy Bardsley, the 1881 census shows William as one month old, the family were living at 2 Back Swallow Street, Stockport. Ten years on in 1891, the family had moved to 29 Wild Street, Stockport, William age 10 had three siblings Martha 8, Lucy 6 and Thomas 3, their father William was working as a Clogger. By the time the 1901 census was taken on the 31^st March 1901, William is listed as age 21, working as a Felt Hat Settler, he was still living at home, his father William was still working as a Clogger, William now had seven siblings and the family were living at 37 Carrington Fields, Stockport. In 1908 William married Elizabeth (nee Lancaster) in 1911 they lived at 2 Albany Terrace, Love Lane, Heaton Norris, they had three children, Margaret 7, Alice Amy 5, and William 2. William was working as a Spirit Proofer at a hat manufacturer, believed to be Christy’s Hat Works. On the night the 1911 census was taken his parents William and Amy are listed living apart but still married, Amy was living at 66 Carrington Fields with four of the children, Thomas age 22, Amy 20, Sissy 16 and John 12, while William age 52 was living at 25 King Street West, Stockport. Both pages show that they had 9 children, two of which had sadly died.

William was a territorial soldier with the 1/6^th Cheshire’s. His service number was 2. When war was declared on the 4^th August 1914, the 1/6^th Cheshire’s were mobilised and on the 10^th November William and the battalion landed at Le Havre, William’s medal index card shows, that on the 3^rd April 1916 he was discharged as medically unfit. At some point after William re-enlisted into the 4^th Cheshire’s and became 202108, soon after he was posted to the 9^th battalion.

The ridge at Wytschaete (known as White Sheet by the British) had been captured on 7 June during the Battle of Messines. The final objective for the 9^th Cheshire’s on that day had been Onraet Wood. Since then the battlefield had been relatively quiet as British troops prepared for the onslaught that would become known as the Third Battle of Ypres.

On 17 July, the Cheshire’s were back in the front line at Onraet Wood and "C" Company was ordered to capture positions known as Junction Buildings, about halfway between the Belgian villages of Hollebeke and Ooostaverne. The Battalion's war Diary records that the operation was very successful and there were only two or three casualties, in spite of the Cheshire’s front line being shelled by the German artillery.

During the 18^th, "D" Company took over the captured position. They were shelled all day and, at 9.40pm, the enemy attacked, forcing the Cheshire’s to retreat. 3 men were reported to be missing. The Cheshire’s tried to counter-attack but this failed.

During the early hours of the 19^th, the 9^th Battalion, Welch Regiment made a successful counter -attack, but by 6.30am, the British troops had, again, been driven out of the position. The account in the 9^th Cheshire’s War Diary is a little unclear, but it is thought that two platoons of Cheshire’s had supported the Welsh and had been attacked by two companies of Germans, with the loss of 15 soldiers. William was one of those to fall.