Needler, William Wilson

BORN HULL 1893. HULL PAL. SON OF JOHN WILLIAM & ANNIE E NEEDLER ABOVE. LISTED ON THE HULL TECHNICAL COLLEGE MEMORIAL.
Hull Pals Memorial Post. SGT WILLIAM WILSON NEEDLER 11/986. Born in July 1893, William was the second of seven children and eldest son of John and Annie Needler of 163 Woodcock Street, Hessle Road, Hull. A Dock Labourer by trade he enlisted at Hull City Hall on Thursday 10th September 1914 joining the newly-formed 11th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Tradesmen’, 2nd Hull Pals. Joining as a Private, William quickly began to rise through the ranks making Lance Corporal in July 1916 and Acting Sergeant soon after. He was wounded in the thigh and buttock on the Somme and shipped home to recover losing his rank in the process; but was promoted again on 3rd May 1917 following the loss of so many in front of Oppy Wood. There was a curious incident, which was investigated by the authorities, in which William was wounded by a bayonet and treated at 95th Field Ambulance. In the subsequent inquiry several witnesses attested to the fact that William,
“…..went out to the Listening Post at about midnight on the 15th-16th August 1917 to warn the post about a Canadian Patrol. As he was getting back in to the Advanced Post, he slipped and fell on a bayonet.”
He was wounded in the ‘upper thigh’ which sounds dangerously close to very painful indeed. The Military authorities were convinced this was no attempt at avoiding service by a self-inflicted wound and William returned to the line soon after. William Wilson Needler was killed in action on 27th March 1918 during the German Spring Offensive and his body was never recovered; his name is commemorated on the Arras Memorial; he was 24 years old.