5th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment
William Walter Nash was born at Witcombe, Gloucestershire on 15 September 1890 and was the son of Henry Walter and Mary Ann Nash (née Gale).
His siblings were Charlotte Blanche (known as Blanche) (born 1886), Henry Reginald (1887), May (1888), Frances Ann (1895), and Nelson Douglas (1898). His mother died in 1926, aged 66 years and his father in 1952, aged 90 years.
William was enlisted in Cheltenham on 6 June 1911 into the Gloucestershire Regiment’s 5th Battalion and was allocated Service Number 1491. He was described as being 5 feet 8 inches, and gave his occupation as a journeyman plumber. His address was given as Greenfields, Witcombe near Gloucester and his next of kin was his father, Henry Nash, of the same address.
His service record shows that he served at home from 6 June 1911 to 28 March 1915, in France from 29 March 1915 to 29 July 1915, and home 30 July 1915 to 5 June 1916. William was discharged on 5 June 1916 in consequence of termination of engagement.
He was recalled as a Reservist in the 3/5th Gloucestershire Regiment on 18 July 1916, and allocated Service Number 5480, and was discharged as unfit for service on 4 September 1916.
According to a recently released Pension Record Card, he was suffering from tachycardia (an abnormality of the heart).
William died a single man on 14 November 1918, aged 28 years, and his private memorial states he was ‘of the 1/6th Glosters’.
According to the CWGC database he was with the 5th Battalion and his date of death is recorded as 14 November 1918; he was 28 years old. He is buried in Section F at St Peters Churchyard, Bentham, Gloucestershire.
The churchyard is still under the dedication of St Peters in the Church of England, but the church is occupied by the Greek Orthodox and now known as St John Chrysostom Greek Orthodox Church of the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain.
Unfortunately, it would appear that William is not commemorated elsewhere. However, the following plaque is located within St John Chrysostom Greek Orthodox Church.
Researched by Baden Russell