William Henry Finch was born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire in 1885 and baptised on 22nd December at St Mary’s church in the same year. He was the third child and second son born to William Finch and Annie Mary Taylor. William and Annie had eleven children together two of whom died in infancy. The children were: Ellen (Helen) Jane, Annie Mary, Joseph, William, Cecil Victor, Frank Matthews, George Arthur, Stanley Herbert, Queenie (Lydia May) and the youngest Eley. Ellen died in 1882 aged three and Queenie died in 1918 aged twenty-one and was buried at Holy Trinity church in Leverstock Green, Hertfordshire.

William’s father, William Snr., was a farmer and worked 195 acres at Lovett’s End Farm, about one mile to the east of Piccotts End, where the Finch children all grew up. The Finch family had a long history of farming in the area and records can be traced back to the mid-16th century to Corner Farm, Westwick Row near Leverstock Green. The family have had a long and strong association with Holy Trinity Church in the village. William’s mother Annie also came from a farming family and the 1891 census recorded him and his brother Cecil at the home of their uncle Henry Taylor at Marsh Farm in nearby Gaddesden Row. It is not known where William worked, although like his brothers, he was probably occupied as ‘farmhand’ with his father at some point.

William was called up under the Military Service Act and enlisted in April 1916 at St Paul’s Churchyard in Middlesex. This was at the famous "Actors" Church in Covent Garden in London. It is not clear why William enlisted in London, but he may have been living and working there at the time. He was not at Lovett's End Farm during the 1911 Census so he may already have moved away from Hemel Hempstead by that time.  He enlisted in the Army and was posted to the Norfolk Regiment at Felixstowe to undergo basic training before being sent overseas to the 7th (Service) Battalion.

Records do not reveal exactly when he went to join his Regiment at the Front, but it would have been about six months after his enlistment, so sometime around October or November in 1916. This meant he would have arrived just as the Somme Offensive ended and as the Norfolks were moving to the Arras sector and preparing for the next major allied offensive. During his training, William had specialised in mortar firing using the recently invented 3-inch Stokes mortar. These armaments were used by the Light Trench Mortar Batteries assigned to each Brigade which were made up as follows: Two Sections, each of four 3-inch Stokes mortars with a Captain, three Lieutenants or Second Lieutenants, two Sergeants, eight Corporals or Lance-Corporals, thirty-two Privates and four Batmen. These sections were skilled crews capable of delivering a very high rate of fire, with a number of rounds, perhaps up to nine, in flight at any one time.

In April and May 1917, William saw his first serious action when he fought at the First Battle of the Scarpe and the Battle of Arleux, followed closely by the Third Battle of the Scarpe, phases of the Arras Offensive. The 7th Norfolk Regiment suffered substantial casualties in these actions, over 180 at the First Scarpe, however, William survived unscathed. Between the 17th May and the 19th October 1917, the Norfolks held positions east of Monchy le Preux, mounting several raids and small scale attacks and beating off some made against them, notably in the area of Hook Trench, Pick Avenue and Tites Copse.

On the 4th October, William was granted some home leave, along with eight other men, and he returned to Hemel Hempstead to see family and friends and to take a well-earned rest. This would be the last time he would see them. On his return, his unit moved to Villeroy-sur-Authie, ten kilometres to the south of Hesdin where the Divisional HQ had been established as a preparatory step before a move to the Cambrai Front. On the 20th November the 7th Norfolks were part of a successful attack on the Hindenburg Main Line where it suffered only light casualties. For the next three days it was engaged in consolidating positions and came under intermittent shelling from the Germans. It was at this point that William lost his life when he was killed by a piece of shrapnel from an enemy shell.

William was killed on Thursday, 22nd November 1917.

Three weeks later his mother received a letter from his Platoon Officer describing his end and expressing sympathy. The contents were published in the Hemel Gazette.

William was commemorated on the War Memorial Plaque in St. Mary's Church, High Street, Hemel Hempstead.

William is Remembered with Honour on the Cambrai Memorial, Louverval, Nord, France, Panel 4.

He was 31 years old when he died.

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