Lancashire Fusiliers 9th (Service) Battalion, Service no. 27722
Son of William Coe and Margaret Tolson, husband of Jane Ellins
Killed in action, first day of the Battle of the Langemarck, 16th August 1917, aged 29
Story
In 1881, William Coe Snr., a plumber and glazier, was living at Little Town End, Ossett with a lodger, Margaret Tolson and her three children. Margaret had been born illegitimately, and was brought up by her grandmother Sarah Tolson. William and Margaret married on the 5th December 1887, witnessed by Thomas Crawshaw, Guardian of the Poor. They were then living at Dale Street, Ossett. William Jnr. was born in Ossett in 1888, and Margaret’s three previous children adopted the surname Coe. In 1891, William Jnr. was the only son and youngest child living with his widowed mother Margaret Coe, a rag sorter, on South Street, Ossett, William Coe snr having passed away 6 months before William was born. On 19th August 1895, Margaret was found guilty of cruelty to her three youngest children who were found to be living in abject squalor, and she was sentenced to 2 months at His Majesty’s Prison, Wakefield. She was 45 years of age, 5 ft 0½” tall, with brown hair and a Methodist. She had no previous convictions and was discharged on the 12th October 1895, but died in 1898. Her eldest daughter Florence passed away in 1896, aged 19.
In 1901, William was 14 years-old, and he was living as the adopted son of Cookridge farmer Frank Thompson and his wife Matilda, having moved to live with the Thompson family at the time of his mother’s imprisonment. In the same year, his youngest sister Sarah was 15 years-old and living at the Certified Industrial School for Girls in Burmantofts, Leeds. On Boxing Day 1908, William Coe married Jane Ellins in Birstall, and in 1911, they were living at 68 Bradford Road, Gomersal with their only child, Edith, aged 1 year, with another child having passed away in infancy. William was working as a horseman on a farm. Shortly after, the family moved to Kippax and William became a miner at Ledston Luck Colliery. The couple had another daughter, Ada Coe in 1913. William enlisted for service in Castleford on 14th May 1915, and joined the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry with service number 23755. He was later transferred to the 9th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers with service number 27722.
Lancashire Fusiliers 9th (Service) Battalion
The Battalion was formed in Bury, Lancashire on the 31st August 1914 as part of the First New Army and then moved to Belton Park, Grantham to join the 34th Brigade of the 11th (Northern) Division. In April 1915, they moved to Witley, then Godalming in Surrey. In July 1915, the battalion mobilised for war and embarked for Egypt from Devonport. On the 17th July 1915 they arrived in Alexandria and then moved to Imbros. On the 6th August 1915 they landed at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli and the Division engaged in various actions including The Battle of Scimitar Hill and attack on Hill 60. On the 18th December 1915 they evacuated to Mudros due to the severe casualties from combat, disease and harsh weather and in January 1916 moved to Egypt, arriving at Alexandria on the 31st January 1916 where the Division was involved in the defence of the Suez Canal. In July 1916, they moved to France, landing at Marseilles and the Division engaged in various actions on the Western Front including the capture of the Wundt-Werk (Wonder Work) in 1916, plus the Battle of Flers-Courcelette and the Battle of Thiepval during 1917.
Private William Coe was killed in action on the 16th August 1917 during the Battle of the Langemarck, part of the Third Battle of Ypres. The attack was from Steenbeck stream with objectives about half a mile from the Zonnebeke/Langemarck Road and a location known as White House. He was posthumously awarded the British and Victory medals and also the 1914/15 Star, for which he qualified when embarking for Egypt on the 3rd December 1915. His widow Jane, and daughter Edith resided at Pease Fold, Kippax and a letter of sympathy was sent to her from the Kippax Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Comforts Fund. William Coe is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial in Belgium, Panel 54 to 60 and 163A, and on the Kippax Memorial.
Jane received £6 2s 9d from the army after her husband’s death, the modern-day equivalent of about £250. Their daughter Ada died four months before William, and was laid to rest in Kippax on 14th April 1917. Jane re-married Arthur Kilburn on 22nd June 1919, and went on to have two sons. One son, Arthur Kilburn Jnr. served with the West Yorkshire and Essex Regiment during the Second World War, and was killed in Burma during the Second World War.
Kippax Roll of Honour 