British Army Veterinary Corps
Herbert Mainwaring WILLIAMS
Major
Died 23 December 1917 · Aged 38
His story
Major Herbert Mainwaring Williams, DSO, was born on 9 June 1879. He graduated from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons London in 1904. He joined the Army Veterinary Corps on 4 February 1910 and was appointed major on 10 July 1915. The first years of his service were in India.
He belonged to the first Indian contingent, which landed in France soon after the outbreak of the war. He served with the Indian Veterinary Hospital and Remount Division in Marseilles until 25 May 1916 and was then attached to the 63rd Division as Assistant Director of Veterinary Services. He was killed in action near Ypres in December 1917 when the enemy bombed his camp.
Major Williams’s death was reported in the Veterinary Record of 5 January 1918.
Photographs and documents
Before the war
- Nationality
- British
- Date of Birth
- 9 June 1879
- Place of Birth
- Halifax, Yorkshire, England
- Veterinary College and Date of Graduation
- London - December 1904
Military service
- Last Rank
- Major
- Regiment/Service
- British Army Veterinary Corps
- Secondary Regiment
- 63rd Division
- First Theatre of War
- France 1914
Medals and commemoration
- Name on RCVS Honour Board
- Yes
- Name In Officers who died in Great War
- No
- Medals and Awards
- Distinguished Service Order(DSO); British War Medal 1914-1918; Victory Medal
Death and burial
- Date of Death
- 23 December 1917
- Age at Death
- 38
- Place of Death
- Yypes, France
- Cause of Death
- Died of wounds received in action
- Cemetery
- Rocquigny Road British Cemetery
- Location
- Somme, France
- Grave Reference
- VIII.C.1
- Commonwealth War Grave
- Yes - CWGC Headstone
- Emblem or Badge on Headstone
- British Army Veterinary Corps
Sources and further reading
- CWGC casualty and commemoration record
- Find a Grave memorial
- The Veterinary Record, 5 January 1918 — cited in the earlier biography
Cite this biography
Graham Hodgkins and Pete Matthews, “Herbert Mainwaring Williams”, Veterinary Virtual War Memorial, https://vetsremembered.org/people/herbert_mainwaring_williams/.
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