File:William's British War Medal (obverse).jpg

English: William Gill was my maternal grandfather and he and his two brothers, John J. and Martin served in France during WW1. They were born in Ballyclemock, Newbawn, Co. Wexford in Ireland. John J. served first in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and then with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. He died from wounds received in battle on 21 October 1916 and is buried in Bailleul Communal Cemetery in France. Martin was the youngest. He had gone to Wales to work in the coal mines. He joined the Welsh Regiment in March 1914, before the war. He was severely wounded on several occasions but survived the war although he had a metal plate in his head from his injuries. After the war he married and lived in Co. Wexford. My grandfather, William served with the Irish Guards and was at the Somme. He often told my father stories about the war of an evening by the fire. Once they were in the trenches and they had a letter they wanted to bring to the command centre to ask for help. It was night time. My grandfather volunteered to go and, as he told it, he used the light from the shells exploding around him to light his way. He had to stop and lie low when it was dark and run for it when the area was lit up. Brigadier Plunkett from Newbawn, Co. Wexford told my father that my grandfather was offered a promotion to a desk job at one point during the war but refused it saying that he wanted 'another crack' at the enemy. He also told this story himself. His attitude was that you had to stay and fight it out. He also recounted how they would raise their helmets up over the trenches perched on their rifles and draw sniper fire so they would know where the snipers were. William married Elizabeth Kelly in 1918 and settled down in Co. Wexford.