William Alfred Wade was born in near Ipswich, Suffolk in June 1884, the oldest of nine children born to William John Wade and Elizabeth Lovick. His siblings were, Gertrude Caroline, Ethel Mary, Annie Laurie, Millie May, Alice Hannah, John Edward, Constance Elizabeth and Ivy Violet. The children grew up between two households with William and Ethel living mainly with their Grandparents, William Wade and Caroline Brock. The Wade men were Blacksmiths in the Bedfield area of Suffolk, about seventeen miles north of Ipswich, where William Jnr. and his younger brother John followed their father and Grandfather in the craft. William would continue to work in the trade throughout his life, although he specialised as a “Shoeing Smith”. A Shoe Smith was the skilled trade of fitting horseshoes and tending the foot health of these vitally important animals in late Victorian and early Edwardian England. In fact the skills were formally taught at Veterinary Schools and included the following disciplines; "Theoretical Principals of Shoeing", "Knowledge of the Structure and Preservation of the Horse's Foot.", Diseases of the Foot.", and the practical exam was for "Bandaging, Blistering and Minor Operations.", and "Skill as a Tradesman."

It is not known if William was formally trained and it is more likely that he developed his skills with his Grandfather and Father. In July 1902 he began his military career when he enlisted with the Rifle Brigade at Ipswich, initially for three years. William was described as “5 feet 8½ inches” with a fresh complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair. He was sent to Gosport in Hampshire for basic training before being posted in November to the 1st Battalion. His career was short-lived however, and on the 8th June 1903, he was discharged from the service as “being medically unfit for further service”. This appears to be have been due to consumption for which William received treatment for over a year following his return home. He picked up his trade once more until in March 1912, he joined the Army for a second time enlisting with the Territorial Force of the Royal Field Artillery (RFA), signing on for four years. He joined in his capacity as a “Shoeing Smith” and was duly assigned to the 3rd East Anglian Brigade with whom he participated in the Annual Training at Rolleston Camp on Salisbury Plain in the summer of 1912.

On the outbreak of war in August 1914, William was immediately mobilised as a serving soldier and it seems it was at this point that he came to Hemel Hempstead where some Batteries of the RFA were posted. He met a local girl, Nellie Mead and they became sweethearts. In January 1915 William was promoted Corporal and, in the summer, before he was sent to France, he and Nellie married on Sunday, 27th July 1915. They each had a young child from previous relationships, William Walter Wade born in 1907 in Ipswich and Grace Ellen Mead born in 1911 in Hemel Hempstead. The new family all moved into Nellie’s parents’ home at 17 Paradise in the town.

In November William finally went overseas to France and whilst on duty in December, he was injured as the result of an accident which caused a flesh wound to his right hip and resulted in William walking with a “peculiar limp”, as recorded on his Army medical records. At the end of February 1916, the 3rd Brigade sailed for Egypt disembarking on the 1st March however, William was in Egypt for only 18 days before the Brigade was ordered home. Although this coincided with the end of his four years’ service, he was retained in the regular army under the Military Services Act. On his return to England he was transferred to the 355th Brigade RFA. Shortly after his return, he was greeted with the happy news that Nellie had given birth in June to their first child together, a baby boy whom they named Leslie George.

Around this time, William’s previous health issues began to take their toll and August 1917 he was admitted to hospital in Colchester, showing signs of deterioration and increased respiratory problems. His Army Medical reports record increased frequency of coughing along with chest pain and some breathing difficulties and following examination, William was diagnosed with “Tubercule of Lungs” in fact the beginnings of Tuberculosis. Although hereditary, his mother, uncle and brother had died from the disease, it was deemed to have been aggravated by his military service. The outcome of the medical board was his honourable discharge from the Army for a second time on the 20th December 1917, as he was again deemed “Physically Unfit”. William returned to Hemel Hempstead to see out the war and to take up his trade once more. He was issued with the Sliver War Badge for services rendered.

Sadly however, his condition worsened and over the next year he developed full blown Tuberculosis. Despite seeing the Armistice bring peace, William finally succumbed to his illness in 1919 at home in Hemel Hempstead.

He died on Saturday, 31st May 1919 and his funeral took place five days later on the 4th June at Heath Lane Cemetery in Hemel Hempstead, when the service was performed by Reverend Cole, the RFA Chaplain from Gadebridge Camp. A report of his funeral appeared in the following week's Hemel Gazette.

William is Remembered with Honour in the Hemel Hempstead (Heath Lane) Cemetery, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, where he is interred in Grave LA. 38.

He was 34 years old when he died only a few days before his thirty fifth birthday.

William is entitled to the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal.