William John Bisney was born in Leverstock Green, Hertfordshire on Friday, 29th July 1892 and baptised on Thursday, 11th April 1895 at Holy Trinity Church in the village. His parents were Wallace Ernest Bisney and Kate Eliza Steers who had eight children together who were: Ernest, William John, Leonard Sidney, Harry (Henry), Percy Royal, Walter and their only daughter Violet. One other unknown child died in infancy.

Five of the six Bisney boys served in the Great War and all but William survived the conflict. The youngest boy Walter was too young to serve. Harry went first, joining the Hertfordshire Regiment and he fought at Ypres, Festubert and the Somme. He was wounded twice and taken prisoner in March 1918. Ernest joined the Norfolk Regiment and fought at Albert, Vimy Ridge, Messines and Ypres and was part of the Army of occupation in Germany at the end of the war. Percy was only seventeen-years-old when he enlisted in 1917, but went to France and fought at Messines Ridge, Ypres and Cambrai.

The Bisney family moved to Boxmoor in 1900 into Fishery Cottages on the edge of the village and next to the Grand Junction Canal, initially at number 13 before moving to number 5. William grew up living in this small row of cottages and even when he married in 1914, he set up home with his new wife next to his parents at 5 Fishery Cottages.

His father Wallace was a ‘General Dealer’ in fruit and vegetables and ran his own wholesale business. William went to school at Boxmoor JMI in the village, starting on the same day as his younger brother Leonard in February 1901. Both boys left within the year however, to continue their education at Two Waters Board School and when he left school in1905, William was the only one of the sons to follow his father into the fruit and vegetable trade.

He met local girl Mary Ann Sear and they were married in January 1914 and soon had their only child, a daughter Violet Mabel, who was born at the end of the year. William’s brother-in-law Joe Sear was also killed in the Great War in September 1914, just a couple of months before the birth of his first niece Violet. William was called up for service in 1916, and after attesting at Watford he joined the Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment) and was posted to the 2nd/4th Battalion for training. The 2/4 came under the orders of the 53rd (Welsh) Division in the 160th (Welsh Border) Brigade which fought at Gallipoli and spent the entirety of the war in the Middle East.

When his training was completed, William was mobilised and sent to Egypt to join his regiment. He travelled across France to Marseille from where he embarked for Alexandria on the 3rd May 1917 aboard the SS Transylvania. This was a relatively new ship completed just before the outbreak of war and had been ‘hired’ from the Cunard subsidiary Anchor Line, for service as a troopship.

She set sail with a full complement of troops, escorted by the Japanese destroyers Matsu and Sakaki. At 10 am on the 4th May the Transylvania was struck in the port engine room by a torpedo fired from the German U-boat U-63. At the time the ship was about two and a half miles south of Cape Vado near Savona, in the Gulf of Genoa, Italy. The Matsu came alongside the Transylvania and began to take on board troops, while the Sakaki circled to force the submarine to remain submerged.

Twenty minutes later a second torpedo was seen coming straight for the Matsu, which saved herself by going astern at full speed. The torpedo hit the Transylvania instead, which sank immediately. Ten crew members, twenty-nine army officers and 373 soldiers lost their lives.

The bodies recovered at Savona were buried two days later, from the Hospital of San Paulo, in a special plot in the town cemetery. Savona Town Cemetery contains 85 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, all but two of them casualties of the Transylvania. Within the cemetery is the Savona Memorial, which commemorates a further 275 casualties who died when the Transylvania went down, but whose graves are not known.

William was one of the unfortunate casualties and he died on Friday, 4th May 1917.

William is Remembered with Honour on the Savona Memorial, Italy, Stone No.1.

He was 24 years old when he died.

William was entitled to the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.