Military History

William is listed as being killed in action on 28th March 1918. The 1st Battalion war diary entries for March 1918 are missing from the diary and the following is taken from the book "The History of the First Seven Battalions, the Royal Irish Rifles in the Great War by Cyril Falls" which is available on the Internet Archive - click here.

At 9am the enemy, who had been pounding the position with guns and mortars, attacked again. Colonel McCarthy-O’Leary, ordering a counter-attack to ease the position, was wounded a second time, and had to be evacuated ; and Captain P. Murphy, commanding the remnant of the 2nd Battalion, was also wounded. The men of the Ist and 2nd Battalions then fell back to the neighbourhood of Arvillers, where Captain Patton, of the 1st Battalion, reorganized them, and they began to dig in again. Captain Miller, commanding the remnant of the 15th Battalion, held his ground till noon, when his trenches were being blown in. He then managed with difficulty to fall back upon Captain Patton. Finally General Withycombe ordered the little force to fall back upon Hangest-en-Santerre, as large bodies of the enemy could be seen advancing on Davenscourt and disappearing in the woods behind it. This withdrawal was complete at 5 p.m.

That evening a French division moved up and relieved the party, which then marched to rejoin the division at Sourdon, via Plessier-Rozainvillers. There was, however, another party of 3 officers and 68 other ranks of the 1st Battalion, which did not receive General Withycombe’s message. This little body of men put another fine achievement in the retreat to the credit of the Regiment. Having dug in north-west of Arvillers, facing due east, it was in action throughout the night of the 27th. On the following morning also it kept the enemy in check by its fire, with no other troops in its vicinity. It was not relieved by the French till 11 a.m. on the 28th. By this time the enemy was between it and the rest of the division. It marched to Sourdon to rejoin, vta Meziéres, Villers-aux-Erables, and across the Avre at Moreuil, a distance of fifteen miles, arriving at 7 p.m. This march was in itself no mean feat after what the men had previously endured. In addition to the Commanding Officer, the 1st Battalion lost Lieutenant E. V. Manico, and 2nd-Lieutenants T. Enright, R. Moore and F. W. Hoyle, all wounded on the 26th.