WILLIAM Bottomley died in the First World War after being wounded twice.
William, known to comrades on the French frontline as ‘Billie Bott’, was wounded twice before the shell burst that killed him in August 1916.
He had been hit by a rifle bullet on the top of his scalp the previous November, seven months after arriving at Boulogne as a private with the West Riding Regiment.
During his first few months he was promoted to the rank of lance corporal in the field, but reverted to private at his own request.
William, born in Shipley but growing up in Eastwood, was a shoemaker with Hall and Stells when he enlisted with the Territorial Army at the age of 20.
In peacetime he was a keen athlete, winning championship medals in cricket and playing for several seasons with the Parkwood Football Club.
William's brother, Edgar, spent the First World War with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary as a shoeing-smith.
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