William "Will" Edward Tilney (1898-1959)
Meadowfield man served with Royal Engineers wounded and taken prisoner
William Edward Tilney had endured years of pain and illness when he died, aged just 61, in Wolsingham Sanatorium. His family felt his death was hastened by the terrible times he experienced during his war service and what followed in a German prisoner of war camp.
Will (or Billie) was born on 25 July 1898, in Brandon Colliery where his father, Ottewell, was a coke drawer. Will was the youngest of the nine children of Ottewell and his wife, Margaret. As the boys in the family grew up, they went down the pit to work as putters, but Will chose to become a joiner, instead, working for R Wood & Co of Brandon Colliery, when he left school.
Will was just 18 years old when he joined the army. He signed up in Durham on 29 January 1917 and, passing a proficiency test as a carpenter/joiner, was enlisted as a sapper in the Royal Engineers.
After basic training, Will was sent overseas to France on 11 July, finally joining his unit on 9 August 1917.
On 27 May 1918, Will was posted as missing in action. It would be 28 August before his family were formally notified that he had been captured and was a prisoner of war somewhere in Germany. His poor mother could not read or write, and the letter had to be read out to her. Sadly, by the time Will was released and returned to hospital in England at the beginning of February 1919, Margaret had passed away, just a few weeks previously.
Will spoke little of his experiences in the war to his family, but in later years, he gave a talk locally, movingly describing his capture and subsequent treatment as a prisoner of war. (For full transcript see link to supporting material below. Transcript kindly donated by Glynis Barrigan, Pamela Morris and family.)
On 27 May 1918, a small and tired British force, sent to the Chemin des Dames, near Aisnes, in France, was struck and virtually destroyed as part of another German offensive. Will describes how it was every man for himself as they tried to escape the battlefield. Will was with two pals when he was knocked unconscious. He came to to find one unscathed, the other mortally wounded and himself unable to walk when he tried; he had been badly injured in both legs. He urged his uninjured friend to get away and let the family know he was wounded and taken prisoner. Will then laid beside the dying lad, giving what little comfort he could.
Waves of German soldiers passed by, some ignoring him, others taking his watch and cigarettes, as their army advanced. After nine hours, two German soldiers arrived with two British prisoners of war (POWs) to carry Will back to the German lines. His wounds were dressed by captured Royal Army Medical Corps men, as far as they were able, and he was sent back to hospital in occupied France.
After kind treatment in France, Will was put in a van with other prisoners for a four-day journey to Limburg in Germany. His legs were now in a terrible state and he was reliant on the other prisoners to bring him food and water, as best they could.
The wounds in Will’s legs were not knitting together as they should, so when he eventually arrived in the camp at Schweidnitz, the decision was made to amputate his leg. Spanish flu was decimating the POWs there but Will survived and slowly grew stronger. However, on Armistice Day, 11 November, Will was returned unexpectedly to the operating theatre where his amputated leg was again operated on. Will’s family maintained this was done unnecessarily and out of spite as Germany had just lost the war.
But with the war now over, Will began the long journey home in December 1919 through hospitals and camps in Germany and France. He finally arrived in London on 4 February 1919, and it was only then that Will learned of his mother’s death. It was a huge blow to him for he had lived for that day when they would meet again.
After time recuperating in hospital in London, Will finally returned to County Durham, settling in Meadowfield, where, despite constant pain from his injuries, he managed to work full time as a carpenter, making coffins for the Co-operative Society Funeral Service. He walked badly all his life and it was a “nightmare” for him getting on and off a bus.
In 1923, he married Jane Lamb and the couple would go on to have three daughters together, Margaret, Jane (Jennie) and Olive Mabel. Will and Jane lived the rest of their life in Meadowfield where Will has well-liked and highly respected. He endured years of illness, almost certainly as a direct result of his injuries in the war, and was only 61 years old when he died in 1959.
Civil Parish: Brandon and Byshottles
Birth date: 27-Jul-1898
Death date: 23-Jul-1959
Armed force/civilian: Army
Residence: 9 College Terrace, Brandon, civil parish of Brandon & Byshottles, ecclesiastical parish of St John the Evangelist (1901 census)
34 Commercial Street, Brandon (1911 census)
134 Frederick Street, Meadowfield (1917 attestation papers)
Employment: joiner/carpenter: before war with R Wood & Co of Brandon Colliery
after war with Co-operative Society Funeral Service
Family: Father: Ottewell Samuel Tilney (1854-1924) coke drawer, born in Benhall, Suffolk
Mother: Margaret nee Pearson (1857-1918) from Leamside
Siblings : John George (Jack (1877-1964), Ottewell Frederick (1882-1955),Emily (b 1879), Eugenia Ethel (Gena) (1884-1968), Edith Mary (1885-1977), Sarah Sophia (Sophie) (1890-1978), Margaret Evelyn (b1892), Olive Mabel (1896-1976)
Wife: Jane nee Lamb (1904-1991)
Daughters: Margaret, Jane (Jennie), Mabel
Military service:
Sapper
Royal Engineers, regimental number 231211
Medal(s): British War Medal
Victory Medal
Gender: Male
Contributed by Kelloe Visitor, Trimdon Station
