William John Bell-Boddy

Private William John Bell-Boddy (868262) was born on June 18, 1889, in Cawston, Norfolk, England, one of 10 children. Hoping for better prospects for his life, he emigrated to Canada around 1913 and settled in Uxbridge, working as a farm labourer on farms near Sandford. He married Mary Louisa Spencer and enlisted on May 22, 1916 with the 182nd Battalion (sister to the 116th Battalion), serving in the 1st Central Ontario Regiment. He spent almost a year training in Canada, in Niagara and Oshawa, before shipping out on the S. S. Justice, arriving in Liverpool, England on May 14, 2017. He served with several Reserve Battalions in northern France before joining the 116th on Feb. 16, 1918. On June 16 that year he was awarded the Good Conduct Badge, having completed two years of service. At the end of August he received a gunshot wound to his left hand while fighting near Arras, but it was not serious enough for him to be sent home. Sadly, on September 29th he was killed in action while attacking a series of trenches at Saint Olle, near Cambrai. He is buried in Saint Olle British Cemetery. His name is also on the Great War Memorial in Cawston, and on the cenotaph in Uxbridge. 

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