Died: Killed in action
Address / Local links: 27 Awliscombe Road, Welling
Family / Relatives: Son of William Edward and Nellie May Wickham of Welling
Local Papers / Websites: BHO 16th March 1945
Other Information: Joined the Army, aged 17
William Wickham was born on the 28th September 1922, his birth was registered in Woolwich, London SE 18. His parents were William Edward Wickham (1893 – 1972) and Nellie May nee Everest (1896 -1968).
William Snr had served his country in the First World War as a Gunner in the Royal Field Artillery. He won both the British War and Victory Medals. William and Nellie married on the 2nd August 1920 in St Peter’s Church, Greenwich. He is recorded as being a Clerk living at 11 Church Passage, Greenwich and Nellie is a spinster living at 117 Bridge Street Greenwich. It is thought that William was an only child as no records can be found of any siblings.
William Jnr was baptised on the 15th October 1922 at St Peter’s Church, Greenwich. His father is recorded as being a Clerk and is living at 443 Woolwich Road, Charlton. From the Electoral Registers available it appears that the family lived at the Charlton address for a number of years but had moved to 27 Awliscombe Road, Welling by 1937.
The 1939 Census shows us that the family are living at 27 Awliscombe Road, that William Snr is an Estimating and Correspondence Clerk for Machinery Export and William Jnr is a Shipping Clerk.
There are no records available to prove when William actually joined the tank regiment, all we do know for sure is that he died on the 27th February 1945 and is buried in the Reichwald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Kreis Kleve, Nordrhein- Westfalen (Grave: 46.A.14). This cemetery is situated in the ancient forest of Reichswald on the Dutch/German border that was the scene of heavy fighting in February 1945. William’s parents had the following words inscribed on his gravestone:
THE MEMORIES OF OUR BELOVED SON ARE BLESSED.
He is not only remembered on the Welling War Memorial but also by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and in the Royal Army Corps Roll of Honour Memorial Book, Vol 2 Page 611 which is housed in the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset.
Newspaper cutting from the Bexley Observer dated 16th March 1945
“Trooper William J Wickham, son of Mr & Mrs Wickham, 27 Awliscombe Road, Welling was killed in action in February in Western Europe while serving with the Royal Tank Regiment. He was aged 22years.
He joined the Army as a volunteer before reaching the age of 18. He landed in France with the B.L.A on D-Day and served in France and Holland.
Educated at Welling Central School and Dartford Technical College he was employed with a firm of exporters as a Clerk and later at Lister Bros of Woolwich. He was a member of the 4th Welling Group of Boy Scouts which he joined as a Wolf Cub and was also a member of the Kent Motor Aeroplane Club.
A promising artist, when on leave recently he brought home several interesting sketches made in Holland and on the battle front”.
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It seems highly likely that William was killed during the Battle of Reichewald during Operation Veritable that raged from 8th February to 11th March 1945.
Some of the heaviest fighting during the advance to the Rhine was in Reichewald, a forest west of Nijmagen between the rivers Waal and Maas. The Reichewald itself had few roads and the Germans had built three defence lines. Kleve suffered heavy bombing and shelling during the campaign with over 90% of buildings in the city severely damaged. (extract from the National Army Museum website).
Extract from Liberation Front Europe.
Operation Veritable started on 8 February 1945. The operation was intended to be one of two pincers aimed at encircling the entrenched German forces. In this scenario British and Canadian forces would constitute the northern pincer of the attack, while U.S. forces would come up from the south to close the trap (Operation Grenade). The German army managed to prevent encirclement by destroying dams in the river Roer (not to be confused with the Ruhr River on the other side of the Rhine) which led to massive flooding; at some points the river was almost two kilometres wide. This flood forced the U.S. soldiers to postpone their assault. The Canadian and British forces had to go it alone. From the outset of the offensive, bad weather complicated Allied operations. General Horrocks, commanding the British forces, later said of the battle: “What was so maddening was that the whole thing could have been so easy if only the frost had continued”. A thaw turned the previously frozen ground into a quagmire, a situation that was aggravated by continuous rain and the fact that the German army had breached the banks of the Rhine.
The Allies advanced slowly and were unable to fully exploit their superiority in numbers and equipment. On 23 February the water had retreated sufficiently to allow the U.S. forces to finally cross the Roer and fulfil their mission. In the words of the Allied Supreme Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower: Operation Veritable “was some of the fiercest fighting of the whole war […] a bitter slugging match between Allied and German forces. https://www.liberationroute.com/pois/185/operation-veritable
William’s unit, the 44th Royal Tank regiment was formed in 1938/39. They fought in WW2 in the Western Desert Campaign in North Africa. They were subsequently involved in the invasion of Sicily and fighting in Italy before taking part in the Battle of Normandy and the advance through Belgium, Holland and into Germany.
Pictured, along with the newspaper cutting, are Welling’s Central School, a Lister Bros advert, the Battle of Reichewald, and William’s burial place and headstone.
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If anyone is able to add any extra information, provide more family details, or suggest any corrections, please let us know – also, if anyone has any more photos of this individual listed on our memorials, please get in touch. Thank you.
Commemorated
- Welling War Memorial
- Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany
This story has been researched by volunteers. We have taken every effort to ensure its accuracy. If you are related to William George John Wickham, or if you have any further information, please do get in touch.