(56) William Knight Veness, Pte TF295184 2/7th Battalion, Manchester Regt
 

56th of the Old Boys of St Wilfrid's School, Haywards Heath to lose his life in the Great War.

William Knight Veness, Pte TF295184 2/7th Battalion, Manchester Regt and formerly 7461 Royal West Kent Regiment.

Born in 1898 in Lindfield, Sussex, William lived at 36 Mill Green Road, Haywards Heath in 1901 with his father William, a railway labourer, mother Emily and younger sister also called Emily. By 1911 they had moved round the corner to 12 College Road and he had another three siblings, Frederick, Edith and Ernest. William worked at the station bookstall and enlisted in the army at Guildford. He was killed on 21 March 1918 in France, aged 19, and has no known grave but is commemorated on the Poziers Memorial.

His father was paid his effects of £11 8s 7d on 15th August 1918 and a War Gratuity of £4 on 28th November 1919.