SPRATTON LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

William was born in April 1895 in Third Turn, Spratton (now Smith Street), the son of Fred Austin, a shoemaker, and his wife Annie. The Austins were a long-established family in Spratton. William was a garden labourer when he was 15, and he volunteered for the army immediately war was declared in August 1914 as did his brother Frank. He was posted to France in July 1915 when he was 19 years of age and saw much heavy fighting with the 6th Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment. He took a prominent part in several engagements and was quickly promoted to Sergeant.

He was severely wounded in the back and thigh by a shell on 21 November 1916 and was invalided home to a hospital in Leicester. He was finally invalided out of the army in September 1918. William was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.