William Smith
Private 37581
1st Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment
Division 55
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A William Smith is named on the Alfred Sutton School war memorial. Berkshire and the War revealed the picture above of William Thomas Smith. The headstone is to W. Smith, of the Royal Berkshire Regiment who was the son of Samuel William and Mary Smith,
of 17, Parnell Street, Reading. William died March 7th 1917, aged 19. He is buried at Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, a village not far from the town of Albert.
The picture above is of a William Thomas Smith, a different address is given for the parents – 34 Westbourne Terrace. It is possible that the family had moved by the time the gravewasregistered. However, the boy in the picture is 19 years and the caption says died of wounds. It is possible that they are one and the same person.
However, there is also a William Smith in the CWGC register for Reading Cemetery, this man is listed as:
SMITH, Pte. William, R4/110946. Army Service Corps. 2nd April, 1916
He is buried in Division 55, Grave number 10239.
There are no other details. This entry serves to highlight some of the difficulties that a researcher has to deal with especially when personal details were omitted from registration forms.