Private John William (William John) SMITH (8964)
1st Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment 2251417, 3/8964
John William was born in 1893 in Spratton, the son of Reuben Smith, a farm labourer from a long-established family in Spratton, and his wife, Elizabeth (née Buckby) and brother of Frank and Abraham. The family lived in Smith Street and all three brothers served in the First World War. John William became a farm labourer but also, in 1910 aged 17, he joined the 3rd Special Reserve Battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment and underwent regular training while still working on the farm.
In August 1914 at the outbreak of the war, he and his brother Abraham were mobilised and posted to France with the 1st Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment. They saw their first major action near Pilkhem in October 1914 and then moved on to take part in the fighting closer to Ypres. John William was killed in action on 2 November 1914 in heavy shelling of the trenches near Ypres and his brother was wounded later that same night. When the 1st Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment were pulled out of the front line two weeks later, only five officers and 350 soldiers returned out of a battalion strength of over 900 men. John’s widowed mother heard unofficially that he had been killed and she asked Miss Mildred Bevan of Spratton House to enquire at the War Office on her behalf. There was no official confirmation of John’s death until 25 May 1915. He was 21 years of age.
John William was awarded the 1914 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal and his death is recorded on the Menin Gate at Ypres and on the Spratton War Memorial. He was one of the first Spratton men to be killed in the war.
Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium
Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium
The name of J Smith 8964 on the Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium, the memorial to those who have no known grave
The name of J Smith 8964 on the Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium, the memorial to those who have no known grave
EXPLORE SECTIONS
MEN WHO SERVED
- Private Charles Herbert AUSTIN (known as Herbert)
- Corporal Frank AUSTIN
- Lance Corporal James William AUSTIN
- Private John Samuel AUSTIN
- Sergeant William Henry AUSTIN
- Sergeant Bertie Henry BALDERSON
- Corporal Frederick Charles BALDERSON MM
- Lance Corporal Robert Samuel BALDERSON
- Private George William BUCKBY (known as William)
- Private Henry Andrew BUCKBY
- Richard Henry Horne BUCKBY
- Transport Sergeant Thomas BUCKBY MM
- Company Quartermaster Sergeant William Gander BUCKBY
- William Archibald COPSON (known as Archibald)
- Sapper Ebenezer COPSON
- Private Ernest Edward COPSON
- Pioneer Henry Owman COPSON (known as Harry)
- Private James COPSON
- Private John William COPSON
- Private Joseph COPSON
- Private Arthur Sidney GOODEN (known as Sidney)
- Private Hugh Henry GOODEN
- Sergeant Joseph Eric GOODEN (known as Eric)
- Private Arthur Thomas HAYTER
- Driver Frank Leonard HAYTER
- Private Harold Herbert HAYTER
- Lance Corporal John Charles HAYTER DCM (known as Jack)
- Private Walter Ernest HAYTER
- Ordinary Seaman Arthur Charles HORNE
- Private John William HORNE (known as William)
- Lance Corporal Lewis HORNE
- Private Thomas HORNE
- Driver John Henry LEESON
- Corporal Joseph Henry LEESON (known as Harry)
- Thomas Baden Powell LEESON (known as ‘Bard’)
- Private Albert MANNING
- Corporal Amos MANNING
- Private Arthur Cecil MANNING
- Private George MANNING
- Sergeant George William MANNING
- Sapper Henry Stanley MANNING (known as Stanley)
- Private John Thomas MANNING
- Private John William MANNING
- Air Mechanic Nathaniel MANNING
- Driver/Saddler Samuel MANNING
- Gunner George Albert MARTIN
- Private Joseph MARTIN
- Private Thomas Henry MARTIN (known as Harry)
- Private Thomas Walter MARTIN (known as Walter)
- Pioneer Walter Ernest MARTIN
- Sergeant William Higgs MARTIN, DCM
- Private Arthur Walter PAGE
- Private Francis Samuel PAGE (known as Sam)
- Private Frank PAGE
- Private Stephen PAGE
- Lieutenant George REEVE MC MM
- Private Richard Henry REEVE (known as Harry)
- Private Samuel REEVE
- Private Sidney Philip REEVE
- Private Frederick Thomas RICHARDSON
- Private John William RICHARDSON
- Private Percy John Partridge RICHARDSON
- Private Abraham Bert SMITH
- Private Alfred SMITH
- Private Frank SMITH 46648
- Private John Samuel SMITH
- Private John William SMITH (6942)
- Private John William (William John) SMITH (8964)
- Private Charles Walter WADHAMS
- Private John Edward WADHAMS
- Private Thomas Edwin WADHAMS
- Private William WADHAMS