Friends of the Somme - Mid Ulster Branch  
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15997   Lance Corporal William Shanks M.M.
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Dated added: 01/01/2016   Last updated: 20/05/2020
Personal Details
Regiment/Service: 2nd Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (British Army)
Died: 21/03/1918 (Killed in Action)
Age: 23
Summary      
William Shanks was born about 1895. The 1911 census lists Willie as age 16, living with his grandmother at house 12 in Castledawson. He had left school and was working as a power loom weaver. Lance Corporal William Shanks was awarded the Military Medal (M.M.). Lance Corporal William Shanks was serving with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers when he was killed in action on Thursday 21st Mar 1918 at the commencement of the German Spring Offensive. He was 23 years old.
Read more on Lance Corporal William Shanks M.M.
 William Shanks M.M.
Cemetery Details
Grave
Cemetery: Pozieres Memorial
  Albert, Somme, 
Grave Ref: Panel 38-40
CWGC Casualty 1588081
Summary      
Pozieres is a village 6 kilometres north-east of the town of Albert. The Memorial encloses Pozieres British Cemetery which is a little south-west of the village on the north side of the main road, D929, from Albert to Pozieres. On the road frontage is an open arcade terminated by small buildings and broken in the middle by the entrance and gates. Along the sides and the back, stone tablets are fixed in the stone rubble walls bearing the names of the dead grouped under their Regiments. It should be added that, although the memorial stands in a cemetery of largely Australian graves, it does not bear any Australian names. The Australian soldiers who fell in France and whose graves are not known are commemorated on the National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.
Local Memorial Details

No Memorial Name Townland
1 Castledawson WW1 Memorial - Panel 1 Castledawson
2 Castledawson L.O.L. 96 - Roll of Honour 1914-1918 Castledawson
Local Insitute / Local Book Details

No Name Page
1 They Didn't Come Home - Castledawson - WWI 90
References and Links
No Link Reference Map Doc
1 1911 Census lists William Shanks 1911 census lists Willie as age 16 living with his grandmother at house 12 in Castledawson, Londonderry
2 Castledawson War Dead Details of Lance Corporal William Shanks including photo
3 National Archives UK Medal card of Lance Corporal William Shanks M.M. can be purchased here
4 National Archives UK (MM) Military Medal card of Lance Corporal William Shanks M.M. can be purchased here
5 Private John Jack Harte Awarded Military Medal with Lance Corporal William Shanks
Magherafelt District's War Dead Acknowledgements 2014-2023