Second son of Thomas and Charlotte Maria Anderson. Recorded as Willie on census records
1901 Census aged 4 living at 1 Taylor’s Lane (off High Street, side of Prince of Wales PH), Strood with his parents, 5 siblings and a nephew. His father is a cement labourer.
1911 Census aged 14 still living at 1 Taylor’s Lane with his parents and younger brother. His three older siblings have probably left and his father is still a cement labourer.
The De Caville records and CWGC lists his address as 10 Pearson Street, Strood
Military Career
Private in 6th Bn The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). Died on 30th November 1917. Final resting place unknown and recorded on the Cambrai Memorial, Louverval, France
Memorial Inscription in St Nicholas, Strood
http://www.everymanremembered.org/profiles/soldier/475844/
His effects totalled £8 10s. 2d. were left to his father.
Unfortunately, the War Diary of the 6th Bn The Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) doesn’t cover the date of his death but most of the Regiment was involved with heavy fighting at Passchendaele. The diary for the 1st December notes that information is difficult to obtain with no officers returned to the unit and the remnants of the unit, 25 Other Ranks, defended the Hindenburg Support Line
As footnote, his mother was listed in Strood Poor Law Union Records several times before her death on 15 December 1929 aged 70.
Ancestry.com sources
1901 Census Class: RG13; Piece: 720; Folio: 117; Page: 11
1911 Census Class: RG14; Piece: 3871; Schedule Number: 6
Military-Genealogy.com, comp. UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War, 1914-1919 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008
National Army Museum; Chelsea, London, England; Soldiers’ Effects Records, 1901-60; NAM Accession Number: 1991-02-333; Record Number Ranges: 814001-815500; Reference: 494 Other sources
The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; First World War and Army of Occupation War Diaries; Class: WO 95
Global, Find A Grave Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012
http://janetandrichardsgenealogy.co.uk/Pte%20W%20Anderson.html
Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre; Chatham, Kent, England; Collection: Poor Law Union Records; Reference Number: G/St/WIa/1