William's Story.
For much of the First World War, the village of Boesinghe (now Boezinge) directly faced the German line across the Yser canal. Bard Cottage was a house a little set back from the line, close to a bridge called Bard's Causeway, and the cemetery was made nearby in a sheltered position under a high bank. Burials were made between June 1915 and October 1918 and they reflect the presence of the 49th (West Riding), the 38th (Welsh) and other infantry divisions in the northern sectors of the Ypres Salient.
Son of Thomas and Jane Butterworth of 91, Worth Clough, Poynton, William had 3 brothers, Arthur, Robert, and Frank, and a sister Louisa.
His occupation is shown as a blacksmith’s striker, William was a member of the United Methodist Church and was also connected with the Brotherhood and Sunday School at the same place of worship.
William enlisted on the 9th December 1915 in Stockport, He was mobilised on 10th April, 1916 into the 10th Battalion South Lancashire Regiment No 28001. But by May 1916 he had transferred to the Monmouthshire Regiment. He embarked at Southampton en route for France on the 15th May 1917, landing at Rouen on the 16th.
Battle of Langermark
By the end of July 1917 the 2nd Mons. were in the forward area in readiness for the Third battle of Ypres. They were attached to the Guards Division who were based at Ondank Caribou camp near Boesinghe. As soon as the Pilckem Ridge had been captured, they had orders to support the Guards Division clearing and repairing the roads through Pilckem to an area called Iron cross, all the time under heavy German shell fire.
Work on the roads and the light railway continued until August 8th when the 29th Division took over the line between Langemark and Wijdendrift on the Steenbeck. The Steenbeck was shown on the maps as a stream 10 foot wide but shelling had destroyed its banks and dammed its flow, causing the water to spread over a strip of country half a mile wide, turning it into a crater filled morass. After the capture of Langermark, the Battalion made duck board tracks, two boards wide supported on piles driven deep into the mud.
Throughout August the Battalion worked in terrible conditions in the area of Langermark. The weather had deteriorated and the whole area had become a sea of mud. The 2nd Mons suffered a trickle of casualties. William, a member of D company, was sent out as part of a working party to repair a section of light railway when they were hit by a shell resulting in 1 man killed and 8 others wounded.William died of his wounds on the 21st.
The inscription on his headstone says
”Thy will not mine be done”