William Latter (1893-?1972?)

Post date: Oct 09, 2017 7:51:48 PM

At the time of the 1901 census there were 3 men named William Latter living in Wateringbury. But the William latter who served during WWI was in 1901 aged 8 and living with his parents, Frederick and Minnie, and 5 siblings in Bow Road. His father was a labourer in one of the breweries.

He does not appear in the 1911 census in Wateringbury so may have joined up by then. No service record for him is available.

The vicar records in his opening list of Wateringbury men serving at the outbreak of war in 1914 that he was 15th Hussars and later records that his service number was 5974 and that he was in D squadron of the 15th Hussars and at another time he is recorded as being in B Squadron. The reference to D squadron would appear to be an error as I have not been able to trace such a squadron.

The History of the 15th The King's Hussars (1914-1922) by Lord Carnock includes William Latter in a list of those wounded (page 251). It covers the story in detail of the 15th's arrival in France and their involvement in the Battle of Mons, the subsequent retreat, the battles of Marne and the Aisne and then the fighting in Flanders around Ypres.

In December 1914 the parish magazine reports I am sorry to say that Pte. William Latter (5974), 15th Hussars, is now to undergo a second operation in Hospital at Shorncliffe. He was wounded in the chest by shrapnel early this month, and we are glad to hear that he is doing as well as can be expected, and hopes to be home on leave by Christmas. Shorncliffe was a military camp near Cheriton in Kent which largely served during WW1 as a staging post for the western front.

In 1915 the parish magazine reports that William Latter, 15th Hussars, was wounded at Ypres, Nov. 5th; he is now at Longmoor Camp. Longmoor was a military camp in Hampshire, mainly a training camp rather than a medical facility. It was the camp to which the 15th Hussars had returned to in 1912 after 14 years of overseas service and from which they would leave in August 1914 to France. November 5th was the time of the First Battle of Ypres in the Ypres salient.

The 1972 date of death is very tentative and could be another William Latter.