Welford man lost his life seven days before end of First World War

A SHATTERED cigarette case pierced by shrapnel in 1918 tells the tragic story of William Basson.

The Welford man was killed in action in France, just seven days before the Armistice was signed which effectively ended the First World War.

William, who turned 25 in September 1918, had been driving munitions on a battlefield in France on Monday, 4th November. The Royal Engineer was in charge of a carriage and horses heading towards the frontline.

It might have crossed William’s mind that he could be going home for Christmas to be reunited with his family in Welford, but all that changed when a shell exploded close to him and he was killed instantly.

Fragments of shrapnel from the shell pierced William’s cigarette case and his wallet, leaving holes the size of a one pence coin in each.

Official documents describe William’s death as immediate and without pain. They also include condolences and sorrow at the loss of a son.

A fellow soldier friend who knew William later recalled that he had changed his routine that day by swapping his wallet and cigarette case from the pockets he usually kept them in; from one side of his uniform to the other.

William was one of nine children born to Rosannah and Henry Basson. His brothers also fought in the First World War and survived the conflict. The Bassons were a close-knit family and William had a special bond with one of his sisters, Winifred or Winnie as she was known.

For men serving on the frontline and for families back home, letters and gifts sent to soldiers were a welcome relief from the horror of war.

William wrote to his parents on 9th April 1918 wishing them well and sending his best to all. Letters were a particular source of comfort but their content was strictly limited to day-to-day matters, like an outbreak of flu, gratitude for gifts or birthday wishes - never anything that might jeopardise military operations or contravene security.

In one letter, William is informed how the villagers in Welford made an effigy of Kaiser Wilhelm which they pushed around the maypole before setting it on fire.

On 20th November 2018, Winnie wrote to her brother with an update on the family. It was a jovial upbeat letter but at the time she wrote, she didn’t know her brother was already dead.

News from the frontline took time to get back to Britain. At a later stage the family would receive a heavy, round metal plaque to commemorate the sacrifice their son made. It reads: ‘He Died for Freedom and Honour’.

Winnie never got over the loss of her dear brother and remained grief- stricken until the day she died and, like so many others, was too devastated to talk about her feelings and rarely mentioned his death to her daughter, Mary Green, who is now 84 and lives in Stratford.

“She found it so painful,” Mary told the Herald. “They were very close, as was the whole family. In fact, Welford as a community was like one big family back then and we all knew each other and cared for each other. We shared one’s happiness and we shared one’s tragedy in those days. William was a postman before he enlisted and his death was reported in the Herald – I still have the clipping.”

The clipping is just one of many items Mary keeps safe in an old, slightly battered Terry’s of York 1767 Chocolate Assortment box. There are black and white photos and letters about William. It also contains William’s cigarette case with two hand- rolled cigarettes inside and his black leather wallet, both of which were on him when he died.

Gently opening the metal cigarette case, Mary said: “You can see where the shrapnel pierced the lid but the two cigarettes have been neatly rolled. The wallet also has a hole in its cover and every single photograph and letter inside has a hole in almost the same place as the shrapnel passed through. There are photographs of some female friends he must have met but we don’t know who they are.”

The wallet is particularly poignant because it’s not only filled with memories of a person’s life – and in this respect, the end of their life – but it’s also a very personal item.

The chocolate box also contains William’s birth certificate – born 17th September 1893 – and the official notification of his death. He was buried in Villers-Pol Cemetery in northern France.

The items are a family’s way of keeping the memory of a loved one alive and they’ve been passed down through the generations, from Rosannah to Winnie and from Winnie to her son Peter and from Peter to his sister Mary.

Once a year, on the anniversary of his death and in the run-up to Armistice Day, Mary opens the chocolate box and re-reads all the letters and sifts through the photographs.

“I so admire those young men who gave their lives for us,” she said. “I feel privileged to be here because of them. If you look at what’s happening in the world now and in Ukraine I don’t think many of the young people today would do what those boys did.

“Nana was lucky she had three sons who came back, but sadly William didn’t. When it’s my time to go this chocolate box will be passed on to my daughter and then on to her children.

“William is gone but he will never be forgotten.”