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William Matthew Hoggard was born in Beverley the 28 Feb 1896, the son of John William Hoggard, a tinsmith and plumber.
Private William Matthew Hoggard attested in the 5th Battalion of the Alexandra, Princess of Wales's OwnYorkshire Regiment (The Green Howards). He was a member of a draft embarked on the 'Golden Eagle' leaving Folkestone for Boulogne on 7 Jul 1916. While at the depot at Etaples he was attached, and subsequently transferred, to the 1st/4th (Hallamshire) Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment. This Battalion was in the 148th Brigade of the 49th (West Yorkshire) Division. The Division, or one or other of its brigades, was engaged in several actions in the Thiepval area during the Somme campaign. The Division moved north in Oct 1916 to the Ypres area where it was to remain for nearly two years.
It was reported in the Beverley Guardian that Private W.M. Hoggard had been wounded in the thigh on 2 May 1917 and was in the Australian Red Cross Hospital in France. In the spring of 1918 he was captured at Neuve Eglise. There is some confusion over the date when this occurred but Neuve Eglise was the scene of heavy fighting during the Battles of the Lys in which the 1/4th York and Lancaster Regiment was involved. William was interned in a German prisoner of war camp, at Friedrichsfeld, near Wesel, Westphalia. After repatriation to Beverley on 18 Dec 1918 he was interviewed for the Beverley Guardian and in a short article entitled 'Return of Prisoners' which appeared on 21 Dec 1918 he commented on conditions in the prisoner of war camp, saying the main complaint of the British soldiers was the scarcity of food. He received his final discharge from the Army on 21 Mar 1919 and returned to civilian life.
In 1919 William married Edith Ingall, daughter of Walter and Mary Ann Ingall of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. They lived at 26 Walkergate, Beverley where Edith gave birth to their daughter Kathleen Mary on the 29 Feb 1920. William died suddenly on 9 May 1921. He suffered from consumption, a consequence of the conditions at Friedrichsfeld. He was twenty-five years old. He was buried with military honours at Queensgate Cemetery. The 5th Yorkshire Regiment provided the pall bearers, a firing party, and a bugler who sounded the 'Last Post'.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |