William Thomas Roskell

Thornton Cleveleys War Memorial 1914-1918 | Index

William Roskell

William Roskell was born in Fleetwood in 1893, the only child of Edward Wilding Roskell and his first wife Elizabeth Ellen Fisher who married two years earlier. He appears to have been named after his grandfathers, William Roskell and Thomas Fisher. The Roskells were one of the oldest families in Fleetwood.

Soon after their marriage Edward and Elizabeth moved to Thornton and in the Census taken on 31 March 1901 were living in Ramper Road (now Victoria Road). Edward was a bricklayer like his father and older brothers. By the time of the next Census on 2 April 1911, the family had moved to Westholme, Fleetwood Road and William, aged 18, had become an apprentice bricklayer.

William enlisted at Blackpool in the 6th Battalion of the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment. He embarked for Egypt on 13 June 1915 and arrived at Gallipoli on 6 July. He had been promoted to Lance Corporal by 12 August when he was wounded. William's letter to his father at Westholme was published by the Blackpool Herald and Fylde Advertiser on 3 September:

"I have some very bad news for you this time. Last Monday, 9th August, about 20 men and an officer were sent to guard a gully, Arthur Shepherd amongst them. They had not been in very long before they were attacked by a very strong force of Turks. Arthur and another chap were killed, and the officer and several men wounded. Vic Windsor (a chum) went up there, and saw him buried all right, and got the contents of his book and gave them to me to send home. I will send them to you the first chance I get. Will you tell Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd, for I dare not, and convey Vic Windsor's and my deepest sympathy to them. It upset us both, we could hardly believe it. On Tuesday morning we left a set of trenches to make an attack on a hill. As we were leaving the trenches they opened artillery fire on us. One of our officers had his arm blown off, so I went down to the hospital with him and saw him safe on to the boat. By the time I got back, the worst part of the attack was over, and most of our boys were either killed or wounded. They were simply mowed down. It was an awful sight. Of the 1,200 officers and men who left England with our Battalion, only about 350 are left, including three officers. Our company has no officer left, so you see we were in the thick of it. I got wounded on Thursday morning. We were making up a sap to the well, and it was my turn on with my men. We had been at work an hour, when they opened fire on us with shrapnel. One bullet hit me on the right shoulder blade, hit the bone, and glanced off. It is only a slight wound. I am writing this on board the hospital ship going down to the base. I have not received a parcel or letter from you for ages, and I don't know how I shall get any now. Remember me to all at Thornton."

After recovering from his wounds, William joined the 8th Battalion, KORL on the Somme. He was killed in action on 12 May 1917 during the Battle of Arras. He was aged 25 and unmarried. Corporal William Thomas Roskell, 11538, 8th Battalion, King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment is commemorated on Bay 2 of the Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France.