William Glenister was born in Hemel Hempstead on Friday, 11th May 1893 and baptised two weeks later on Thursday, 24th May at St John the Evangelist Church in Boxmoor. He was the sixth child born to Amos William Glenister and Lois Amelia Putnam who had nine children together. These were: Alfred William, Lois Amelia, Beatrice Mary, Amos Seabrook, Joseph Austin, Annie, William, Thomas Jesse and one other child which died in infancy. William’s sister Lois also died as an infant in 1879. William’s younger brother, Thomas, was also killed in the Great War, falling in France five months before him. Thomas’ biography also appears on this site. William grew up at 10 Corner Hall in Hemel Hempstead, next door to the forge where his father Amos worked as a Blacksmith and Farrier, just as his father Joseph had done.

When William left school in 1907, he went to work for John Dickinson & Co. Limited in Apsley Mills, were he trained as a ‘Clerk’. In early 1915 the Glenister family suffered a double tragedy when William’s parents both died within a month of each other in March and April.

William joined the Colours in September 1915 following the National Registration Act. The Act had been passed on 15th July as a step towards stimulating recruitment and to discover how many men between the ages of fifteen and sixty-five were engaged in each trade. All those in this age range who were not already in the military were obliged to register, giving details of their employment. The results of this census became available by mid-September 1915 and it showed almost 5 million men of military age who were not in the forces, of which 1.6m were in “starred” (protected, high or scarce skill) jobs.

William attested at Hemel Hempstead, enlisting with the Hertfordshire Regiment and he was then sent to the 3rd ‘Reserve’ Battalion at Hertford to undergo basic training. On completion of training he was posted to the 1st Battalion Hertfordshire Regiment and sent to Belgium. It is not known exactly when William went overseas, but it may well have been in December 1916 when the 1st Herts received a series of new drafts whilst in the vicinity of Ypres.

Right from the beginning of 1917, the 1st Herts were in action and William fought in the Front Line trenches and took part in various raiding parties. In July he fought in the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, the opening encounter in the Third Battle of Ypres. This attack proved to be immensely costly for the 1st Herts and during the attack on the opening day at St. Julien, 459 casualties were incurred. This represented almost half the Battalion fighting strength. William survived the carnage and then fought in the Battles of Langemarck in August, the Menin Road and the Battle of Polygon Wood in September. The Battalion suffered casualties in each of these actions, although not as severe as at Pilckem Ridge. Once more William survived unscathed.

In October he fought in the Second Battle of Passchendaele and over three days the Battalion was fortunate to incur relatively light casualties given the horrors of this engagement. The early part of November brought frequent poison gas attacks from the Germans which resulted in many casualties. On the 14th November William was involved in an action described as follows in the Battalion War Diary: “14-11-17. The Bn was relieved by 1st/1st Cambs Regt. & moved to BODMIN COPSE with 2 platoons of No.4 Coy and 3 platoons of No.1 Coy in closer support at TOWER & VELDHOEK.” Two days later, a second entry explains the outcome of the support efforts: “16-11-17. The Bn was relieved by 16th Bn Sherwood Foresters & moved by lorry from SHRAPNEL CORNER to CHIPPEWA CAMP. Casualties during tour; Killed - 4 OR, Died of wounds - 1 OR, wounded 4 OR, gassed 3 OR, missing 1 OR.”

William was one of the four unfortunate men killed and he died Wednesday, 14th November 1917.

He was commemorated on the John Dickinson & Co. Limited War Memorial in Apsley and on the War Memorial Plaque in St. John the Evangelist Church, Boxmoor.

William is Remembered with Honour on the Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 153.

He was only 21 years old when he died.

William was eligible for the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.