2249/240273 Private William Elks
1/6th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment

William Elks came from Bilston and had been employed at the Bankfield Works of Joseph Sankeys and Sons in Bilston. He had joined the Territorial Force in shortly before the outbreak of the war at Bilston. Elks was mobilised in August 1914 and volunteered to serve overseas, arriving in France with the 1/6th South Staffords in March 1915. Private Elks was reported as missing following his battalion’s unsuccessful attack on Gommecourt on 1 July 1916. In March 1917, he was issued with a new regimental number by the Territorial Force Records Office at Lichfield.

In March 1917, following the withdrawal of the German Army to the Hindenburg Line, 46th Division were again sent to Gommecourt to clear the battlefield of the remains of their comrades killed during the attack on 1 July 1916. Among the soldiers whose remains were identified was William Elks. He lies buried at Gommecourt Wood New Cemetery: Plot II, Row H, Grave 16. His name also appears on the memorial to employees of the Bankfield Works killed during the Great War, now held at St Leonard’s Church in Bilston, and on the New Town Ward panel of the town’s war memorial.

Information supplied by Andrew Thornton

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