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Old 26-01-15, 14:51
Jill Jill is online now
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Default (43) William Arthur Overton, Private 10749 Coldstream Guard

43rd of the St Wilfrid's Old Boys to die in WW1.

William was born in 1896 in Haywards Heath to William and Catherine Overton, his father was a baker and they lived in Franklynn Road, by 1911 when he was 14 he was working in the bakehouse and was the eldest of 9 children. He joined the Coldstream Guards in May 1914 in Brighton and was 5ft 9in tall with brown hair and grey eyes.

William was wounded at Ypres in November 1914, his records say he was a trustworthy and hardworking man. After being wounded he was discharged as medically unfit on 30th June 1915 with a pension. The report says “Gunshot wound, total blindness. Somewhere in France or Belgium. Man suffering from loss of memory and blindness. He is in a fair condition of general health. His memory for recent & past events has gone & he is blind in both eyes. The condition of the fundus is quite normal and there is nothing about the eye to account for blindness in the opinion of Mr Harion (ophthalmic specialist) the condition is physical.”

He died on 28 Jun 1917 in the Brighton area, having married shortly before his death and is buried in Haywards Heath Cemetery; his gravestone says he died from the effect of his wounds. He was 20 years old.

This appeared in the Mid Sussex Times:
MID SUSSEX TIMES 3 JUL 1917
DEATH OF PRIVATE W A OVERTON
The deepest sympathy has gone out to Mr & Mrs Overton, of Franklynn Road, on the death of their eldest son, William Arthur, the sad event occurring on Thursday at Preston, near Brighton. The deceased, who had only been married four months, was in his 21st year.

He enlisted in the Coldstream Guards in May, 1914, and eventually went out to France. He had not been out there very long before he was shot in the head at Ypres by a sniper. The wound was so severe that for three months this poor young fellow lay unconscious and blind, and that his life was prolonged was due entirely to surgical skill and the good nursing he received both in France and in the London Hospital.

In April, 1915, he received his discharge from the Army, being no longer physically fit for service. Three hundred and nineteen days had he served, and his discharge paper stated that he was “a trustworthy, hardworking man.”

The funeral took place at the Church of the Presentation, New England Road, yesterday (Monday) afternoon, and a large number of sympathising friends attended to witness the last sad rites. The chief mourners were Mrs WA Overton (widow), Mr & Mrs W Overton (father and mother ), Alan George and Geoffrey Overton (brothers), the Misses G and D Overton (sisters), Mrs Brayne (granny), Miss Brayne (aunt), Miss K Barnard (sister in law), Mr P Woodland and Private D Luxford.


Then in the fashion of those days there was a list of everyone else who attended and what was written on the cards accompanying flowers that were sent.

There is no mention of his wife in the gravestone, he is described as the eldest son of William and Catherine. Someone of the same name (Ethel M Overton) married in Horsham district in 1920.

Last edited by Jill; 25-05-17 at 06:49. Reason: number of siblings/age at death
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