Private Williams was the son of Thomas H.
Williams of Milton West, Ontario. The newspaper reports of that
time also note he was the youngest Milton lad to enlist at age
17 years on September 22, 1914.
Private Williams papers say he was 18 years 3 months when he
attested to the 4th Infantry Battalion (1st Division, 1st
Infantry Brigade).. His attestation papers note he was in the
Militia, however it does not state if this was the 20th Halton
Rifles. He was a machinist at P. L. Robertson Mfg. Co. in
Milton.
Private Williams was reported killed in action on June 16,
1915 near Givenchy. The war diary does not report on any action
that day, but does report action of June
15, 1916 near Essars, after explosion of a mine. The
military service record of Private Williams is also mute on the
details of his death. We can only assume that he was one of the
unlucky ones that was hit by a stray bullet, a piece of
shrapnel, or some other event.
At the time, the Canadian forces had just come out of the
Battle of Mount Sorrel, where action had been intense. The front
line had been consolidate by June 13, 1916, and the enemy
launched two counter attacks on the 14th. Nicholson
reports that the Canadians then stayed "stationary yet
aggressive". Private Williams may have been lost during one
of the counter attacks.
