William George Sommerford (Service No. 6412505) was killed in action on 16 October 1944. He was aged just 20 and a Private in the 1st Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment. He was initially buried at Cemetery H.J. Hendriks, Overloon and subsequently re-interred on 20 May 1947 in grave III. C. 9 at the Overloon Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Overloon. His inscription reads: “God grant him everlasting rest. Deeply mourned by his mother and family.”

No photo of William George Sommerford has yet been found. Should anyone reading this have a photo of him or further information regarding him – or if they are aware of any errors in his biography below can they please contact the Foundation?

Family background

William was the son of James and Mary Sommerford, of Brighton, Sussex. He was born on 5 May 1924 in Brighton and his mother’s maiden name was given as Curtis.

James Sommerford initially married Mary Ann Prior in 1899 in Brighton. James had been born around 1870 in Brighton and Mary Ann in 1871/2 in Edburton, Sussex. They probably had four children, all in Brighton: Winifred 1901, Annie 1902, James 1904 and Alfred 1908. However, Winifred and Alfred both died in infancy, leaving just Annie and James.

In 1901 James and Mary were living at 23, Sloane Street, Brighton. James was working as a Bricklayer labourer.  With them was Elizabeth Cotton, aged 52, a boarder born in London and a 2 year old child called Archibald whose surname and birth place were not known but was described as a Nurse Child, meaning he was probably an abandoned child being looked after by Elizabeth. By 1911 they were living at 15 Lower Park Place, Brighton with their two children. James was described as a Walk Man for the Corporation.

However, it seems that by 1917 James Sommerford  had left his wife and went on to have four children with Mary M Curtis who had been born on 10 April 1887 in Gillingham, Dorset. These were William James 1 August 1917, Frances Amelia 26 June 1919  (born at 10 Hereford Street), Jack 9 December 1921 and finally William George on 5 May 1924.

In 1921, James was living with Mary (calling herself Sommerford) at 32, Hereford Street, Brighton. James was working as a Painter and Cook for the Corporation but was out of work. With them were their first two children, though William James was being called James. It isn’t known where James’ wife, Mary Ann, and their two children, Annie and James, were at this time.

However, James’ daughter, Annie Sommerford, married George E Thwaites in Brighton in 1923. They had children as follows, all in Brighton: George E 2 August 1923, Thomas R 1928 and Jean M 1930.

James’ son, also called James, from his marriage to Mary Ann Prior died in 1931 in Brighton aged just 28. Mary Ann herself died the following year. This allowed James to marry Mary Matilda Curtis in 1933.

James Sommerford died in 1937 aged 62.

In 1938, his daughter, Frances, married James Baxter in 1938 in Brighton. They had a first child in Brighton called Teresa M Sommerford in early 1939.

In September 1939, Mary Sommerford was therefore widowed and living at 34 Kimberley Road, Brighton. With her were Jack, her married daughter Frances Baxter and an unnamed child. It isn’t certain if the unnamed child was William George Sommerford or Frances’ daughter Teresa. Mary described herself as a retired cook, Jack was a Brewery Hand and Frances was a shop assistant.

It seems that William George Sommerford got into trouble with the law in early 1942. It was reported in the Gloucester Citizen of 1 April 1942 that he had been remanded in custody at Brighton. He was a hotel porter aged 17. He was accused of stealing a cheque for £559 11s 8d which a fellow porter, Henry Upton, had won on the pools. It was alleged that William had opened an account in Upton’s name and had withdrawn a total of £249 11s 8d in three stages. A 16 year old boy was charged with receiving £100 of this, knowing it to be stolen. It was stated that they had been staying at a hotel in London and living a very riotous life, getting through £154 in ten days. It is not known whether he was found guilty or what sentence he received.

Military Career

William George Sommerford’s brother Jack had died on 19 December 1941 in WW2. He was a Marine in the Royal Marines on board HMS Neptune. He is commemorated on Panel 60, Column 1 of the Plymouth Naval Memorial.

William enlisted as a Private at Brighton on 6 May 1942. He stated that he was born in Brighton on 5 May 1924, so had just turned 18. He gave his address as 45 Cowfold Road, Brighton, Sussex and his occupation as a Hotel Porter. He gave his religion as Church of England. He was classed as Education Level Grade D and A1 Medically fit. He named his mother, Mary Matilda Sommerford of the same address, as his next of kin, though at some point her address was changed to 16 Clarence Square, Brighton.

He initially enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment. He was initially sent to the reserves until 18 June 1942 when he was posted to the 17th Infantry Training Centre. He was posted to the 10th Battalion on 5 November 1942 and then to a Y List on 8 December which was a unit where men were held awaiting deployment to a permanent unit. On 15 March 1943 he was posted to the 4th Infantry Division and then to GHQ Home Forces on 19 May 1943.

From July onward, he began to commit various misdemeanours. The first was on 8 July 1943 when he was given 21 days detention at the Fort Darland Detention Barracks by his commanding officer for misconduct on the previous day on 3 charges. The nature of the charges are not known. He was released from Fort Darland on 28 July and returned to duty on the 29th. During this time, on 20 July, GHQ Home Forces was re-designated as HQ 21 Army Group. It isn’t known what his role there would have been.

On 5 October 1943, he was confined to barracks for 14 days for misconduct. At this same time, he seems to have been moved to No. 4 Infantry Depot.

He was given 28 days detention by his Commanding Officer on 24 January 1944 and forfeited 23 days’ pay for being absent for nearly 23 days from 26 Dec 43 until surrendering to the Military Police on 18 January 1944. He was released from detention on 16 February 1944 having earned 4 days remission. He may have been temporarily assigned to the 11th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment on 22 February 1944 and then posted to the 49th Reinforcement Holding Unit / 103 Reinforcement Group on 21 March 1944. Reinforcement Holding Units were units in which men were held while they awaited posting to a permanent unit.

He was placed under close arrest on 10 April and was tried by Field General Court Martial on 5 and 6 May 1944. He seems to have been sent back to 21 Army Group on 14 April. At the Court Martial he was convicted of conduct to the prejudice of Good Order and Military Discipline and given 21 days detention. Again, the nature of the misconduct is not known. He was released from detention on 26 May 1944 and returned to duty the following day. However, just two days later, on 29 May, he was confined to barracks for 10 days for two further incidents of misconduct. On 9 June 1944 he was given 14 days detention by his Commanding Officer for, “while on active service, leaving unlawfully in possession of the property of a comrade” on the previous day. He was released from detention on 23 June and returned to duty the following day. However, it seems that he did not return as, on 27 June, he forfeited 7 days’ pay for absence from 24-26 June1944 and was placed in open arrest awaiting trial. The outcome of this does not appear to be recorded. He was then assigned to the 46 Reinforcement Holding Unit on 30 June 1944 and then the 44 RHU on 18 July.

He was transferred to the 1st Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment on 11 August 1944 and sent to North West Europe.

The 1st Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment had landed at Sword Beach on D-Day and played its part in the fighting in Normandy until mid August.

William will have joined the Battalion around the time from 17 August until 3 September when the Battalion had a rest period which also allowed them to take on reinforcements to replace the substantial number of men they had lost.

By this time, the Allied troops were making a fast advance through France and Belgium to the Escaut canal south of Eindhoven in readiness for Operation Market Garden. On 17 September, airborne troops landed in a corridor from the Belgian/Dutch border via Eindhoven and Nijmegen to Arnhem to secure bridges and allow ground forces to move forward with speed – then to reinforce and strike east into Germany.

The role of the Battalion along with others was to protect the main line of communications northwards along this corridor. It moved on from Villers en Vexin on 18 September and reached Peer on 19 September then Asten on 23 September. They entered Helmond, just east of Eindhoven, on 25 September. It had just been taken by another Battalion and they received an uproarious welcome from the Dutch people.

On 29 September, it moved out of Helmond and on over the River Maas at Grave through Heumen and on to Maldens Vlak. Here they spent time patrolling the area facing the Reichswald Forest in Germany not far to the east. On 9 October the Battalion retraced its steps to Grave, then south to dominate a stretch of the River Maas in the Cuijk area.

Problems with supply lines had resulted in the failure of the Allies to hold the bridge at Arnhem, so plans changed. The Allies found themselves in a narrow salient through the Netherlands and so it was decided to clear the enemy to the south in Overloon, Venray and Venlo while also securing Antwerp to help with supply issues. American troops initially attempted to take Overloon, but did not succeed so the British Army took on the task.

On 11 October, the Battalion therefore moved on foot from Cuijk  through Haps and St Hubert and on again the next day to Wanroij, St Anthonis and Oploo, arriving north of Overloon on 13 October.  At this time, other British Troops were engaged in capturing Overloon, using an artillery barrage which caused heavy damage to the village.

The Battalion spent the night of 13 October in the woods around Overloon. The ground forward of the woods was flat and featureless and about midway between Overloon and Venray ran a stream called the Molen Beek. From its far bank the enemy had a clear view over a distance of 1000 yards of the British Troops leaving the shelter of the woods.

At 0700 hrs on the morning of 14 October, two companies led the attack to the south with support from two troops of Churchill tanks. The advance was a difficult one, as once through the thick woods there was very little cover. Some tanks were hit and others retreated back into the woods, leaving the Infantry without support. The Battalion succeeded in reaching a point about 400 yds short of the Beek that day, though were left in a very exposed position. They had to remain there the following day while other units reached their positions in order to carry out a co-ordinated attack on the Beek the following day.

The Molen Beek was between 10 and 15 feet wide and had sloping banks about 5 feet high creating an effective gap of about 30 feet. The approaches were difficult with cratered tracks and waterlogged ground. The area was extensively mined. The success of the operation depended on crossing the beek silently by night. Any attempt by day would be suicidal as the road bridge was blown. It was therefore planned that the infantry would cross using floating pontoon bridges while a bridging tank would use a girder bridge for vehicles, including tanks.

The Royal Engineers successfully built the two pontoon bridges overnight – one on each side of the road. At 0500 hrs on 16 October B and D Companies crossed without incident – though it was later discovered that D Company had walked through a minefield of Schumines. Later A Coy did the same with no casualties. By 0600 hrs the leading Companies were keen to press on as they were lying in the open in full view of the enemy and getting casualties. However, other units hadn’t fared as well and so the Norfolks weren’t allowed to push on. The bridging tank failed to lay the bridge under intense fire. On the second attempt a flail tank was half way across when the whole lot toppled into the Beek. The Battalion’s  Churchill tanks had all been knocked out – but thankfully the enemy tanks had withdrawn. By 0700 hrs the leading companies were allowed to progress. Casualties mounted up. By the afternoon, A and C Companies were able to push on to about 1000 yds south of the Beek. The Battalion had succeeded in securing the crossing and forcing the enemy to withdraw. This was the day on which William George Sommerford  was killed in action, having initially been reported as missing, believed killed. A further 16 men of the Battalion were killed that day, most of whom and are buried alongside each other at Overloon.

By 18 October Venray had been taken. Between 13 and 18 October, the Battalion incurred 43 fatal casualties and about 200 wounded.

William had served for a total of 2 years and 164 days. Although he seemed to have misbehaved while still in the UK, there are no reports of him failing to do his duty once he arrived in Europe.

He was awarded medals as follows: 1939-45 Star, France & Germany Star and the War Medal 1939/45.

Aftermath

William’s brother, now Corporal James William Sommerford, married Agnes Smith Newberry at Duddingston Kirk, Edinburgh on 9 April 1945. In an announcement in the Edinburgh Evening News of 14 April 1945 James was described as the son of Mrs M Sommerford and the late James W Sommerford of 16 Clarence Square, Brighton. His wife was an L.A.C.W (Leading Aircraft Woman) and was the daughter of Mr and Mrs Ronald Newberry of 38 Milton Road West, Portobello. They had three children as follows, probably all born in Edinburgh: Ronald Raymond 27 August 1945, Raymond Curtis 10 September 1948 and James William 31 May 1950.

It seems that Agnes and the children sailed to Aden in Yemen on 22 May 1957. It is likely that they were following James. Their address in the UK was given as 11 Brunstane Road, Joppa, Edinburgh 9. It seems that the family later returned to the UK.

It isn’t known what became of William’s sister’s husband, James Baxter. Frances A. Baxter had three more girls in Brighton who were initially registered with the surname Baxter: Jean F D 1944, Jean F 1946 and Marilyn A 1947, although it seems odd that two are called Jean. Frances A Baxter, sailed to Halifax, Canada from Southampton in 1949. However, with her were children Teresa M Baxter aged 10, Jean F Duncan aged 4 and Marilyn A Duncan aged 2. The address in the UK was 16A Clarence Square, Brighton which was her mother’s address. An Alistair Duncan of the same address had sailed to Canada in 1947. It seems that Frances had formed a new relationship with Alistair Duncan. They went on to have two more children in Canada.

William George Sommerford’s mother, Mary M Sommerford, died in 1962 in Brighton.

His brother, James, died in 1982 in Brighton.

From FindMyPast website: Civil and Parish Birth, Marriage and Death Records; England Census and 1939 Register Records; Electoral Rolls; Military Records
Scotland’s People: Birth, Marriage and Death Records
Ancestry Family Trees: Gabrielle Barnier
Information from “Thank God and the Infantry – from D-Day to VE-Day with the 1st Battalion, the Royal Norfolk Regiment” by John Lincoln
History of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Norfolk Regiment
Wikipedia Royal Norfolk Regiment
Service Record for William George Sommerford from the National Archives ref. WO 423/756235
Edinburgh Evening News of 14 April 1945
Gloucester Citizen 01 April 1942

Research Elaine Gathercole