William was born in Melton in 1887 and was baptised in St Andrew’s Church on 3rd June 1888, along with his sister Ellen Elizabeth. He was the only son of Frederick Freeman Woolnough and Hannah Herring. In 1891, the family was living in Foundry Row on The Street in Melton and William’s father, Frederick, was working as an attendant at St Audry’s Hospital. The 1901 census records that the family were still living in Foundry Row and that William was working as a telegraph messenger. By 1911, William’s father, Frederick, had died; Hannah and Ellen were living at Tollgate Cottage and were earning their living by taking in laundry at home.
In 1912, William emigrated to Canada, arriving in Quebec on 19th May that year, intending to work on a farm in the Toronto area.
William enlisted in the Canadian Army on 1st June 1916 and was posted to the 207th Battalion of the 7th Reserve. He gave his address as Kinburn, Ontario, alongside a false date of birth, making him two years younger. He did, however, give his mother’s name and address in Melton as next of kin. Just under a year later, on 25th May 1917, William boarded the SS Olympic in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Olympic set sail on 2nd June and arrived in Liverpool a week later.
William and his colleagues in the 207th Battalion were taken to Seaford Camp in Sussex to undergo further training. He was then posted to France, joining the 38th Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force on 27th September 1917.
William’s new battalion was in camp at Souchez, near Lens, in France. Within days, however, they were travelling to Belgium and the Third Battle of Ypres. On 28th October, William’s battalion was in the Divisional Reserve for the upcoming attack on Passchendaele Ridge. On the 30th, William was on the front line for the first time, taking part in a successful attack on an enemy position. On 3rd November, the 38th Battalion went into billets at Caestre, near Hazebrouck, and later, at Lozinghem, to the west of Bethune. It wasn’t until 19th December that William was back on the front line in the Avion sector between Lens and Vimy. On Christmas Day, the battalion was once more in reserve, and the war diary described the day:
“All Xmas parcels and letters distributed to men and Officers in Support Line, including Xmas comforts of cigarettes and other presents sent to the Batt. Fraternising with the enemy was the last thing the men would have thought of doing and orders forbidding same were superfluous in regard to the 38th. All ranks made the most of the day, those who felt a bit homesick covered their feelings with a camouflage of laughter and jest.”
By the 29th, the battalion had been relieved and was in billets in Neuville St Vaast. When the German Spring Offensive began on 21st March 1918, William’s battalion was in the divisional reserve in the Oppy Sector, near Arras. They were sent to the front line on 23rd, where they remained for five days, before being relieved and placed in the reserve until 7th May, when they were sent to billets in Valhuon. Three weeks later, having spent no more time on the front line, William and his battalion were sent to Lozinghem once more, where they were to spend the next seven weeks resting and training.
On 12th July, the battalion moved to Ecurie Wood Camp to provide men for work parties and training. On 19th July, William and the 38th Battalion found themselves on the front line once more in the Fampoux Section, on the Scarpe, to the north of Arras. There is little in the war diary to describe their time there and the entry on the 21st July starts:
July 21st -In the line: Today’s casualties include: Killed 246469 Cpl. Woolnough W.T”
William was one of two men killed and three wounded that day. He is buried at Ecoiveres Military Cemetery, Mont-St-Eloi, Pas de Calais, and his original grave marker is kept at the Old Church in Melton, Suffolk, where he is also remembered on the war memorial.
William’s mother Hannah died in 1934. His sister, Ellen Elizabeth, married Frederick William Angelo Pye in 1928 and they moved to Ipswich, where she died in 1949.