William Hill was born in 1897 in Neath. He was the eldest son of William and Jane Hill.

In the 1901 Census, William is listed as 4 years old and living with his family at 1 Cornish Court, Neath. The Census reported that his father William was working as a Brick Labourer and he had one younger sister, Hannah.

By 1911, William had lost his mother and he was living with his widowed father, sister and a younger brother at 3 Saviours Court. He had already started work as a Labourer.

In late 1913, he joined the Territorial Force and would have attended regular evening drill sessions and summer camps.

When War was declared, he was called up and left Neath. From that point onwards, he would have seen little of his family other than some brief periods of leave.

In 1918, William was badly gassed and it is not clear whether he recovered, many man continued to suffer from the long term effects of the poisoning.

William Hill passed away on 24 March 1920 at the age of 22/23. His cause of death is not known, but it is likely that it related to his wartime experiences as his aunt Elizabeth received a military pension.

His family kindly added:

You are correct that my great great aunt was in receipt of a war pension. At the time of his death he was blind as a result of his gassing. My grandmother (Hannah) idolised William, my father was named David Cyril Morgan (DCM) purposefully to commemorate my great uncles war bravery.

William Hill enlisted as a Gunner in the 1st Welsh (Howitzer) Brigade in August/September 1913 and was given the service number 747. Unfortunately, his service record was destroyed during the Blitz, but it is possible to piece together elements of his service using surviving scraps of information.

Gnr Hill joined the Brigade at the age of 16 and half, which was unusual as the normal minimum age was 17. There are 2 possible explanations, he may have been a trumpeter/musician which had a lower age of enlistment or he may have misled the recruiter about his age – which was common.

Being from Neath, he would have joined the 2nd Battery of the Brigade which was based in the town and as a member of the Territorial Force, he would have attended regular drill sessions in the evenings and annual summer camps. When war was declared in 1914, it is likely that he had just left for his first summer camp on Salisbury Plain, and he would have swiftly returned to Swansea with the rest of the Brigade.

The Brigade then travelled to Shrewsbury where the Welsh Territorial Division concentrated and after 3 weeks moved to Northampton at the start of September 1914.

At this time, members of the Brigade were asked to volunteer to serve overseas, which was referred to as Imperial Service. This was required because soldiers of the Territorial Force only volunteered to protect the coast of Great Britain when they enlisted, freeing up the regular army to serve overseas.

We know that Gnr Hill did volunteer to serve overseas (by the fact that he was later awarded the Territorial Force War Medal). However, because he was still only 18 at the time the Brigade went to France, he would have transferred to the 2nd Line. This was due to a regulation within the British Army that soldiers were unable to undertake Active Service until they were 19 and so he would have remained with the 2nd Line until he reached 19 and there was a space in the Brigade.

The 2nd Line moved around the country to places including Winchester and Croydon, until they moved to their final positions in East Anglia.

When Gnr Hill finally reached 19 years old, he would have transferred to a depot and been sent to where he was needed, but no records have been found to confirm where this was.

The next record is his Distinguished Conduct Medal citation taken from the History of the 25th Division. The Citation reads:

No 725155 Bombr W Hill, Y-25 M TM Battery, RFA.

This NCO showed great gallantry and devotion to duty on 22nd March, 1918, near Hermies. He worked his mortar for over an hour while the position was being heavily shelled and enfiladed by a machine gun. After he had been firing for three-quarters of an hour the Infantry were given orders to retire, as they were being outflanked, but he continued firing until he saw the enemy almost behind him. He then destroyed his gun and withdrew to the Infantry. Awarded…. DCM

Y-25 Medium Trench Mortar Battery was formed in April 1916 and was part of the 25th Division (one of Kitchener’s New Army Divisions) – it is therefore possible that Gnr Hill joined the Battery when it was formed and could have served in the Sommes Battles.

22 March 1918 was the second day of the 1918 German Spring Offensive, also known as the Battle of St Quentin (21-23 March 1918). Whilst the infantry of the 25th Division were not involved in this action, it appears that the Divisional Artillery were. Wikipedia provides the following description of that day which links closely into hos citation:

On the second day of the offensive, British troops continued to fall back, losing their last footholds on the original front line. Thick fog impeded operations and did not disperse until early afternoon. Isolated engagements took place as the Germans pressed forward and the British held their posts, often not knowing who was to either side of them. Brigade and battalion control over events was absent. It was a day of stubborn and often heroic actions by platoons, sections and even individuals isolated from their comrades by the fragmented nature of the battle and lack of visibility.

It appears that Bdr Hill was uninjured during this brave act and continued to serve at the front until May 1918 when he was gassed. Notification of his injury was published in the official lists on 18 June 1918 and an unseen record at the National Archives makes reference to him being admitted to Berrington War Hospital near Shrewsbury suffering from gas poisoning.

It appears that after he left Berrington, he was sent to Catterick Command Depot on 9 July 1918 and discharged to draft on 4 October 1918. It is not known whether Cpl Hill fully recovered or returned to action.

William Hill died in March 1920 and the final surviving military pension records reference his aunt, Elizabeth Ann Jones of Saviours Court as his dependant. This suggests that his early death was directly linked to his service and his aunt received a military pension. No records confirm this, but it is very possible that his death was linked to his gassing as his family have confirmed that was blinded as a result of the gassing when he died.