Sergeant Frederick Williams – 953162
30 July 1919 – 5 July 2000
Frederick Sidney Williams (Fred) was born on 30th July 1919. He was the second of three children with an older brother and younger sister. He was born in Eccles, a borough on the western fringes of Salford and Manchester. His early life was much the same as any of his generation born to a working class family, until he was eight years old. On 27th September 1927, his father died of pulmonary tuberculosis.
Fred’s widowed mother, Annie, would have obviously found life hard in the late 1920s, and what had been a tough but reasonable life for Fred became even harder. Any aspiration Fred had to go to Grammar School, and to better his lot was dashed. On leaving school at fifteen, in 1934, he joined L. Gardner and Company as a trainee draughtsman. Gardner made diesel engines for a range of uses including marine, road and rail applications.
At the outbreak of war in September 1939, Fred was twenty, and seeing the probability of being conscripted into the Army to fight in the war he decided to enlist. His reasoning seemed to be that by enlisting he could have some say about what he did in the Army. He enlisted on 12th December 1939, and joined the Royal Artillery 111 Field Regiment based in Bolton, Lancashire. This was a 1st Line Territorial Army unit, which would be called to battle.
By March 1942, Fred was qualified as a Forward Observer and in Fire Direction which meant that he could either move forward under whatever cover was available to identify enemy positions and plot them accurately; or receive details from other Forward Observers and work out firing plans and the angles and elevations required for his battery (212 Battery) to hit the target with their shells. His battery consisted of six 25 pound guns and around 80 men.
Following the end of hostilities Fred spent some time in Italy, and his paybook records that he was granted leave in the UK from 12th September 1945. How he got back to England from Italy and when his final discharge date was are unknown. He returned to his home town of Eccles.
As part of the demobilisation programme organised by the British Government various training courses were offered to returning soldiers. These were generally to try to fill anticipated shortfalls in essential services. Purely by chance Fred spotted a course being offered to train as a teacher. He jumped at the chance and studied at Freckleton College, near Preston in Lancashire. After qualifying as a teacher he worked at only 4 schools in or close to Eccles. His last appointment was as Headmaster at Clarendon Road School from where he retired in 1979.
On 31st August 1946 Fred married his longtime sweetheart Eve Steggles. They had three children, and continued to live in and around Eccles until retirement. During a busy retirement they moved to Hornsea, Humberside; Roquetas de Mar, Almeria, Spain, and Paignton in Devon.
Fred never talked much about his wartime experiences. He used to say that it would be either boring or distressing for people to hear what he had been through. This work has been put together from the snippets we know, and the diary, papers and pictures he left behind.
Fred passed away on 5th July 2000, a few days short of his 81st birthday.
Note: Fred’s son, Philip, very kindly allowed me to use Fred’s diary in this website to be interspersed with the Official War Diary; the inclusion of which has added so much detail and meaning and understanding to what the men of 111 Fd Regt were going through. I am incredibly grateful to Philip for this very kind gesture.