Gale, William Archibald

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William was born on 11 September 1879 at St Stephen-in-Brannel, Cornwall, the second son of William and Anna Maria (nee Truscott).  William’s father was a schoolmaster in St Stephens.

William enlisted with the 1^st Hertfordshire Regiment, Regimental Number 5527 on 1 September 1915.  He was transferred to the Royal Berkshire (Princess Charlotte of Wales’s) Regiment 6^th Battalion, Regimental Number 36315, in 1916.  He was transferred in 1917 to the Labour Corps 629^th unit, Regimental Number 281943, and sent to The Western European Theatre of War, France and Flanders where he saw active service.  He suffered a gunshot wound to his chest and right arm in November 1917 which rendered him unfit for further service and he was discharged from the army on 20 November 1917.

William was awarded the Victory Medal, the British War Medal, and the Silver War Badge.

He is commemorated on the St Mary’s Church Ashwell Roll of Honour.

His mother died in 1886 and his father remarried in 1888, to Elizabeth Banks Stephens, a schoolmistress.

William trained as a teacher in Cornwall and the 1911 census shows him as a teacher at the Merchant Taylors School in Ashwell, Hertfordshire.  He was very active in the village hockey, football and cricket sports teams.

William’s records show that in 1925 he was living in Ware, Hertfordshire where he met Edith Emma Horn, a nurse, whom he married in his hometown of St Stephens, Cornwall in the 3^rd quarter of 1934.  They had a daughter Elizabeth M born December 1936.  The 1939 census shows them living in Warem Hertfordshire, with William an elementary school teacher.

William died on 29 September 1966 at Battle, Sussex.

Royston Crow 1 Sept 1916 Solders missing/wounded,  Letter from Pte WA Gale of Ashwell to Mr AW Chote detailing his impressions of the French area he is serving in.

Royston Crow 10 Nov 1916  Casualties. Pte WA Gale, recent assistant master at MT School, wounded.  He was a well-known athlete, active in many sports, a very useful member of various teams –  cricket, football  and hockey.