#1745 Sergeant William Isaac Cannon
1/6TH ROYAL WARWICKSHIRE REGIMENT
OPERATING ON THE LEFT OF the ANZAC troops at the northern end of the battlefield, 23-year-old William Cannon had not begun his war service in the infantry. From Wallingford, Berkshire, and one of seven children, he enlisted at Reading and originally served in a cyclist company. A porter for the Great Western Railway, but an ardent Territorial in peacetime, William had recently become attached to an infantry battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment on the Somme.
William had been doing well since his arrival and had impressed his officers. The beginning of the month found the battalion in training to the rear, but in mid-August it would be required to go forward again. William departed with his men, having received another promotion for which he had been desperate. ’Got the other stripe,’ he told his parents proudly. ‘It was weary waiting for it but I have got it at last.’ When he signed the bottom of his letter, he did so with precisely thirty-one kisses arranged in a pattern for them and reminded them of his rank again: ‘Sergeant.’
On 16th August Sergeant Cannon and his battalion arrived at Ovillers and proceeded to relieve a battalion of the Gloucester Regiment in the line. A German counter-attack the following day was stopped by an artillery barrage, but a number of men were wounded. On the 18th, it was the turn of the Warwickshires to attack. Artillery of all calibres had managed to isolate their objective. Smoke came from opposite Thiepval, laid down as cover for them by the division next door. Under a surprise barrage, William led his men forward on the right of the attack at 5pm.
A view of the area around Mouquet Farm. (Authors’ collection)
What ensued was referred to as a ‘heartening success’. Encountering some initial resistance laid down by German machine guns, the men of one company had to throw themselves into a nearby trench or shell holes. But, persisting, they then made good ground, taking all their objectives. In the act of pushing them back though, Sergeant Cannon was leading his platoon towards the enemy when he was struck by a German bullet. As well as capturing its objectives, the 1/6th Royal Warwickshires seized six German officers and 245 men, including a large number of NCOs. The cost to the battalion was 150 casualties. ‘His death was deeply regretted by the company and by the officers especially myself,’ wrote William’s company commander to his parents. ‘We tender our deepest sympathy to you for your loss. Your sorrow may be somewhat alleviated by the fact that he died like a hero and a true Briton.’ William Cannon was originally buried to the east of Authuile Wood. In 1919 he was carefully exhumed by a Canadian Graves Detachment clearing the area and finally laid to rest at Pozières British Cemetery, plot IV.F.5.