William Slade Vincent

7.5
William wins Military Cross

On 28th September 1917, William was in the area known to the British as “SPOILBANK” and “GASPERS CLIFF”. This position was only about two hundred metres behind where William had been near Hessian Wood, on 20th September 1916. A stalemate had been in effect on the Western Front, where both sides could not gain any significant territory, even after suffering hundreds of thousands of casualties. But by 1917, things had changed.

William’s company moved up to the Railway Embankment behind the start line for the offensive about to be launched on the 20th.

In this area William was to gain fame for his gallantry and was to be awarded a Military Cross for his action, detailed in Appendix 3.

Area near Hollebeke, Belgium where William was to see action 1917 [68]

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[68] National Archives - War Diary W/O 95