| Rank | Lance Corporal, Leading Stoker |
| Service # | A-50063 |
| Unit # | Kent Regiment, R.C.N.V.R. |
| 24th Reg. | Yes |
| Resident | Chatham |
Age 51 years of 10 ½ King St. West, Chatham, father of John also serving in the Navy.
Born in Belfast Northern Ireland he served in the Royal Navy from 1910 until 1920 During the Great War in saw action in convoy duty and in the Dardenells campaign, the Battle of Jutland, was in on the kill of the German cruiser Koinsberg in the Indian Ocean and in Russia in support of the Royalist cause during the revolution of 1917.He also served on HMS Blenheim. In 1920 he returned to Belfast and served in the British military forces known there as “the Black and Tan”.
In 1927 he emigrated to Canada and worked as a section hand on the railroad near North Bay before securing a job sailing on the Chippawa, a passenger freighter fom Toronto. He latered “shipped” on the Alexander Leslie a coal boat out of Erieau, ON.
When WWII broke out William tried to join the Canadian Navy but at first was turned down. He then joined the Kent Regiment and later transferred from the Kents to the Canadian Navy which placed him with the Royal Navy. He had been serving on an armed merchant cruiser doing convoy duty, it was while in a convoy that a German torpedo just missed his ship and hit the vessel ahead of his.
In 1945 he was serving on HMS Chatham a light cruiser from the Great War but had also served on HMS King George V and the Duke of York.
Date of Discharge: February 15th 1946
In 1917 he married in Ireland and his wife joined him in Canada two years later. They had a son John who is serving in the Canadian Navy, age 22. He originally enlisted in the Essex Scottish before transferring to the Navy and in 1945 was taking a boiler makers course, previously he had been doing convoy duty. They also had a daughter Anne.
Williams naval career had taken him to every ocean in the world including crossing the Arctic Circle making him a member of the “Blue Nose Club”. One of his hobies is keeping a picture of every ship he has sailed on which decorates his walls at home. CDN 31/
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