Carter, William Henry

Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE WILLIAM HENRY CARTER 11/150. Born in West Hyde, Hertford on 18th August 1896, William was the second of seven children and eldest son of William and Elizabeth Carter, of 17, Ann’s Place, Chapman Street, Hull and 18, Waller Street, Holderness Road, Hull (War pension address). He enlisted on Monday 7th September 1914, joining the brand new 11th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Tradesmen’, 2nd Hull Pals. He had just turned 18. The age for foreign service was 19, but the army must have turned a blind eye knowing he would be that the necessary year would pass while their boy was training. He left Blighty for Alexandria in Egypt just before Christmas 1915 and the battalion served their until March 1916 when they left Port Said for Marseilles and the journey north to the trenches of the Western Front. William served on the Somme, at Oppy Wood and Arras, faced down the German Spring Offensive at Armentieres and made it to within 100 days of the end of the war. Alas, he was killed in action on 3rd August 1918, his body being buried in Le Grand Hasard Military Cemetery; he was 21 years old.