Sergeant William Spence died on September 3rd 1914, following wounds received at the Battle of Mons (source: Yorkshire Evening Post, 26th September, 1914). This is the account of the actions earning him the Distinguished Conduct Medal: THE beginning of the retreat from Mons, so prolific in brave deeds, witnessed few more deserving of being recorded here than that which gained Sergeant William Spence, of the 2nd Battalion West Riding Regiment, the D .C .M. which, unhappily, he was never fated to wear. All Sunday and Monday (August 23rd- 24th), a party of the West Riding Regiment had been engaged in holding a wood near Wasmes against an overwhelming force of Germans In the course of the fight the commanding officer was badly wounded and would have fallen into the hands of the enemy, had not Sergeant Spence gone to his ***istance and brought him safely back under a heavy fire . By the late after– noon of Monday, the gallant Yorkshiremen, decimated by shell and rifle fire, were so reduced in numbers that it was impossible for them to hold the wood any longer. To retreat, however, was to expose themselves to be attacked in flank and rear by a strong party of Germans, who had crept up under cover of the trees. Lieutenant Thompson, the officer commanding Sergeant Spence's platoon, had been ****ed, but the sergeant, ***uming command, headed a desperate bayonet charge which drove the enemy in rout and confusion from the position they had taken up and ***ured the safe retirement from the wood of all that remained of the gallant little band. On evacuating the wood, our men crossed the railway line and formed up on the lawn of a large house on its outskirts. At the rear of the house was a narrow street, through which lay their only hope of retreat; but this street was found to be held by the Germans, though they appeared to be unaware of the presence of the British, being evidently under the impression that the whole party had either been ****ed or made prisoners in the wood . The wounded commanding officer, who had been laid behind a small slunmer-house, directed Private Foley to go out and see if there were any chance of Sergeant Spence getting his men through. Foley crept cautiously round the house, and presently returned and reported that the street was deserted . Sergeant pence thereupon collected his men and rushed out; while Private Foley and Captain Taylor followed, supporting their commanding officer, who could only walk with the greatest difficulty. As they reached the garden-gate, they heard the sound of firing, and, on reaching the street, they found Sergeant Spence lying on the pavement in a half-fainting condition , with his left arm broken and terrible wounds in his side. It appeared that he and his men had run into a party of the enemy, who must have come up the street just as Foley had finished reconnoitring it . The Germans fired on the three men struggling painfully along, but, happily. without effect, and then made off, leaving the remnant of the Yorkshiremen to effect their retreat in safety with their wounded comrade . Sergeant Spence was awarded the D.C.M. " for conspicuous gallantry," but he never lived to receive that distinction, as he died of hi wounds on September 25th, I914. He was thirty-three years of age and a resident of Halifax. Sergeant William Spence was my Great, Great Uncle and had previously seen service in the Second Boer War, specifically at Cape Colony, South Africa. Some corner of a foreign field remains forever England.

Rebecca Spence