William Newman
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William had worked for the Post Office since the age of
14 as a ‘boy messenger’. Duties were delivering telegrams and the hours were long. Working as a boy messenger usually enabled boys to be trained to be postmen or for other postal work.
In October 1916, it is believed that William was conscripted into the Post Office Rifles. He was already by that time married with children. William’s regiment were sent to Fovant, Wiltshire to train before being sent to France.
By November 1916, William had been transferred into the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Rifles regiment. On 7 March 1917, William was killed by a sniper.
