William Osborne Crowther

War Service

William Osborne finalised his education at Trinity College, Cambridge obtaining his Commission in August 1916, attached to the 9th (Service) Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters (Nottingham and Derbyshire) Regiment. The battalion raised at Derby in 1914 as part of Kitchner’s First New Army, saw active service in Gallipoli and Egypt before returning to Europe to reinforce the third army in France.
On 6 October 1916 the battalion arrived at Mesnil-Domqueur, a small hamlet some twelve miles northeast of Abbeville in the Somme area of France, where they were resting and receiving replacement men. Entries in the Battalion Diaries for 11 October 1916 confirm at 4.00pm “6 new officers arrived” among them 2nd Lt. W. O. Crowther.
The following month the battalion remained in Mesnil-Domqueur where they continued training, route marched and even had a soccer match. This relaxation time ended when, at 11.00am on 11 November 1916, the battalion began a series of route marches towards the front lines.
Extracts from entries in diaries are as following:
22 November Enemy artillery active
24 November Working part of 100 men from each company moved out to dig new trenches in front of our first line. Party caught in enemy barrage North of Beaumont Hamel section. 2nd Lt Crowther and 8 other ranks killed
William Osborne Crowther, aged just 19 years, was killed in action on 24 November 1916 having been with his regiment for 44 days and in the trenches for only 3 days.
Lieut. Col. Thornton wrote:
“He was very popular with his brother officers and his men and we have suffered a great loss in his death, for he was a very promising and gallant young officer and one who did his duty fearlessly.”
William Osborne now rests in peace in Hamel Military Cemetery, Beaumont-Hamel, France along with his fallen comrades of that fateful day. Opened in August 1915, by fighting units and Field Ambulances, Hamel Military Cemetery carried on until June 1917. Commemorated in this site are almost 500 casualties of the 1914-18 War, of these nearly 60 are unidentified.
In the course of his duties as a Post Office telegraphist William Osborne’s father would have received many telegraphs confirming the death of numerous young men of the area. He may have been the first to read the message transmitted and received shortly after 24 November 1916. The message every family hoped would never come, confirming the death of his son.
A plaque dedicated to the memory of William Osborne Crowther hangs in Altofts Church.
William Osborne’s older brother Acting/Corporal 58233, J. R. Crowther, Royal Engineers returned home safely after the war.

Family Life

William Osborne was born in Altofts, the son of Allan and Sarah Ellen Crowther. Allan and Sarah Ellen Williams were married at Holyhead in 1888, the birthplace of Sarah Ellen, even though Allan was born in Normanton. Allan, after their marriage, brought his new wife back to Yorkshire to live in “Habit Royd Villas”, High Green Road, Altofts, where they became parents. Allan and Sarah’s first child John Richard was born in 1890 followed by Anna in 1892, Allan James in 1894 and William Osborne on 24 September 1897. Shortly after his birth William Osborne was baptised in Saint Mary Magdalene Church, Altofts on 31 October 1897.
The family continued to live in Habit Royd Villas (next door to the family of Company Sergeant Major Mark Beevers).
Information obtained from the 1911 census confirms the change of the family address to 47, High Green Road, Altofts. William Osborne’s father continued to work at the post office as a sorting clerk and telegraphist. John Richard was employed as an architect’s assistant, Anna as a learner at the post office and Allan James as an insurance clerk. Young William Osborne, now aged 13 years, was a scholar at Normanton Grammar School.
William Osborne’s older brother John Richard joined the Royal Engineers on 1 December 1914, four months after the outbreak of war.
In August 1914 William Osborne was still a student at Normanton Grammar School before moving on to The University of Leeds Officer Training Corps in October 1915. He then finalised his education at Trinity College, Cambridge.