By 1916 he was living in Darwen, Lancashire, England. We do not know why he moved there.
William was conscripted into the British Army and sent to the Infantry Base Depot camps on the French coast on 31 March 1918, likely the 40th Infantry Base Depot at the great complex of camps at Etaples as William's draft was penciled in to go to the 18th (Service) Battalion of the Welsh Regiment. That unit was decimated on 9 April 1918 during the early days of the German spring offensive. Instead, William's draft was transferred into the 1/4 Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment on 19 April 1918 as replacements. Little more than a month later, he was dead at the age of 19.
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| Craonne after the fighting; image courtesy of 1/4 Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales, Own Yorkshire Regiment website |
The Third Battle Aisne began with a German attack on Allied positions at Chemin des Dames ridge. It was a surprise attack that started with an artillery bombardment, which inflicted heavy losses. The Germans followed with a poison gas drop. Caught completely off-guard and with their lines spread thin, the British did not stop the advance until the Germans were well across the Aisne river. They had smashed through eight Allied divisions and captured 50,000 soldiers.
William Lively's regiment had been moved into the battle line during the night of 26 May from reserve area at Beaurieux. They faced the German Seventh Army just north of Craonne. British officers protested this move, but were assured by the French, it was a quiet area.
From a report by the British Commander, Sir Douglas Haig:
"These divisions had been heavily engaged during the past month, three having been twice and one three times withdrawn from the battle line and again engaged after being reformed. They, therefore, had few experienced officers and men when they arrived in Champagne, and were again filled up by immature and half-trained lads fresh from home whose training had to be completed. In these circumstances the division could not be considered fit for heavy fighting for some time to come. Notwithstanding this they were ordered into the front line almost at once by the French Commander, who countered British objections by declaring that as the front was a quiet one, and as no attack was to be expected, it would be possible to continue the training of the troops, while in the line and that the French Divisions, urgently required elsewhere could thus be relieved."
Beginning at 1:00 a.m. the next morning, the regiment was heavily shelled and outflanked on both sides and by the end of the day's fighting had been decimated. William Lively was one of many soldiers killed in action that day. His body was never recovered but his name is inscribed on the War Memorial at Soissons in the Picard region of France. Posthumously, William was awarded the British War and Victory medals.
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| William Lively's named as engraved on the War Memorial in Soissons; photograph courtesy of Find A Grave member Misty & Company |
Unfortunately, most of William Lively's war records were lost in September 1940 when a German Luftwaffe bombing raid struck the War Office Repository in London. However, unit war diaries still exist. The 50th Division's war diary, which described the fighting the day William died is poignant:
"No less than 227 officers and 4,879 other ranks were killed, wounded or captured during the battle. Practically all those casualties occurring on the 27th, for after that date, the 50th Division became intermingled with other divisions, which were in a like condition; only a mere handful of the infantry remained."
His hometown of Blantyre, Scotland, has a war memorial with its World War I dead inscribed on it, but William's name is not among them.
*NOTE: The 150th Brigade of the 50th Division was comprised of three battalions: 1/4 Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment, 1/4 Battalion of Yorkshire Regiment, and the 1/5 Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment. All of the battalions were positioned near Craonne above the Aisne river on 27 May 1918 and suffered the same fate. So the battle photo of Craonne after the fighting is relevant to this post even though William Lively did not serve in that battalion.
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1/4 Battalion, Alexandra, Princess of Wales, Own Yorkshire Regiment, http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bandl.danby/001BnIndex.html
1901 Scotland Census, 31/03/1901 Lively, Elizabeth (Census 1901 624/00 005/01 005)
1901 Scotland Census, Parish: Blantyre; ED: 5; Page 5; Line: 7; Roll: CSSCT1901_246
1911 Scotland Census, 02/04/1911 Brodie, William (Census 1911 624/00 007/00 018)
Scotland, Statutory Registrations, 1855-2013, 1899 Lively, William (Statutory Births 624/00 0172)
Birmingham Gazette, 29 May 1918
Dundee Courier, 30 May 1918
Global, Find A Grave Index for Non-Burials, Burials at Sea, and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current, William Lively
"Soissons Memorial," Commonwealth Graves Commission
The Birmingham Mail, 28 May 1918
UK, British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920, William Lively, 42292
UK, British Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects, 1901-1929, NAM Accession Number: 1991-02-333; Record Number Ranges: 895001-896500; Reference: 548
UK, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Grave Registration, Index No. M.R. 18, Soissons Memorial, Part Two (G-M), Lively, William, 42292
UK, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Commemorative Certificate, Lively, William, 42292
UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919, William Lively, 42292
UK, WWI Service Medals and Awards Rolls, 1914-1920, William Lively, 42292
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