William Henry Macey (1886 - 1928)

Born 7 Aug 1886 in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Edith Mary (Rendall) Macey — married 1 Jul 1908 in Weymouth, Dorset, England, UK.

Descendants

Died 16 Feb 1928 at age 41 in 74 War Seal Mansions Fulham RoadChanges, Fulham, London, UK.

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Chris Macey [send private message]

William Macey was born in Monmouthshire, Wales.

Biography

BIOGRAPHY:

BIRTH: William Henry Macey was born on 7 August 1886 in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK.

EMPLOYMENTS: He worked as a collier in the coal mines, where he sustained a cut on the back of his right hand that resulted in a scar. He also served in the British Army.

MILITARY SERVICE: William Henry Macey was an unmarried coal miner, living with his parents, when he volunteered to serve in the Pembroke Royal Garrison Artillery Militia. He enlisted in the British Army on the 20 Jan 1903, in Cardiff, Wales, UK. The enlistment was for a three (3) year term with a further nine (9) years in the Army Reserve. The enlistment document indicated that he was five (5) feet seven (7) and one half (1/2) inches in height; weighed ten (10) stone one (1) pound; had a 34 inch chest; had brown hair; brown eyes; a fresh complexion; and a coal scar on the back of his right hand. His religion was given as Church of England. He was passed fit for service in the 28th Company of the Royal Garrison Artillery Section of the 28th Company of the Royal Regiment of Artillery Number 309147, as 14013 Gunner William Henry Macey.

He reported to Number 2 Depot Southern Group of the Royal Garrison Artillery at Fort Rowner in Glosport on 23 Jan 1903, where recruits were trained for siege train batteries for both the Home Service and the Colonial Service. On 7 Dec 1903, He was sent to serve with the Garrison in Hong Kong, then a relatively minor port, but it was a base for the Royal Navy’s China Station Fleet. He remained there until 26 Dec 1904.

From 27 Dec 1904 until 5 Apr 1907 he served in India, which included at that time: the countries now known as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar (formerly Burma). While he may have experience danger in action on the Nortwest Frontier with Afghanistan, where tribal groups were in near constant conflict, the real danger was from venereal disease, dysentery, typhoid, cholera, and malaria. Before leaving India on 5 Apr 1907, he signed up for a second term of service.

On 24 Apr 1907, he returned to England to serve in the Home Services. He was quartered in the Red Barracks, Barrack Road, Weymouth, Dorset, England, UK,; and served in the Nothe Fort In Weymouth, Dorset, England, UK. On 7 Jan 1908, he married [ [Rendall-43|Edith Mary Rendall] ] (See MARRIAGE & CHILDREN below). Gunner William Henry Macey Royal Garrison Artillery was discharged into the Army Reserve on 19 Jan 1911, on completion of his term of service, and returned to being a coal miner.

Britain declared war on the German Empire, and its axis partners, on 4 Aug 1914, in response to the German invasion of neutral Belgium. 14013 Gunner William Henry Macey, of the British Army Reserve, was mobilized at Pembroke Dock, on 5 Aug 1914. He was posted to the 8th Siege Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery on 7 Oct 1914. This Siege Battery was formed at Woolwich on, 8 Oct 1914, from units sent from Pembroke Dock.

The British Regular Army was very small and only had 80,000 men available to send to France to form the British Expeditionary Force there. They, and their French allies, were overwhelmed by the 2 million men of the German invasion force a series of desperate battles during their retreat from Mons to defensive positions on the river Marne. The British Expeditionary Force supported the French Armies as they attacked the front and flank of the German Armies forcing them to retreat.

The 8th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery landed in France and sent to the Western Front on 14 Oct 1914 , when the British Expeditionary Force was engaged in heavy fighting in Flanders. The 8th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery was equipped with the then new 9.2 inch Howitzer. At La Couture (just northeast of Bethune on the French-Belgium border), on the 31 Oct 1914, the 8th Siege Battery was the first to use the weapon to destroy a German Heavy Battery. Later they used it at Nieppe (on the border near Armentieres) and at Warneton (nearby in Belgium).

The 9.2 inch Howitzer fired a 290 pound shell on a high trajectory, with a maximum range of 10,000 yards. Each howitzer and its carriage weighed 41 tons, and in 1914 were pulled by a team of twelve heavy drought horses, or by a special 18-ton tractor. As the ground turned muddy, it became almost impossible to manoeuvre the heavy guns. At Nieppe an 18-ton tractor sank into the mud, and 200 men could not shift it, so it was abandoned. The British Expeditionary Force was very short of shells for the 9.2 inch Howitzer, so each Howitzer was limited to only six (6) shells a day.

MARRIAGE & CHILDREN: While serving in the Nothe Fort in Weymouth, Dorset, England, UK, and quartered in the Red Barracks on Barrack Road, he married Edith Mary Rendall (born Oct 1884-10 - died 21 Jun 1918) on 7 Jan 1908, in the Weymouth Register Office, Weymouth, Dorset, England. They had three children: [ [Macey-122|William George Macey] ] (born 4 Jun1908 - died 6 Nov1969); [ [Macey-127|Mary Ellen Macey] ] (born about 1911 - died 17 Jun 1919); and [ [Macey-118|Samuel Macey] ] (born 28 May 1914 - died 2 Mar 1959). Mary died in childhood at about eight years of age, about one year after her mother, Edith Mary, died.

DEATH: William Henry Macey died on the 16th of February ,1928. He was only 44 years old. He died at Queen Mary's Hospital, London, England, UK, of pylo nephritis uraemia and paraplegia, resulting from a shrapnel wound to the spine. He sustained the wounds while serving in the 28 Company of the Royal Garrison Artillery Regiment Number 309147. as a gunner during World War I. His death certificate number is D 020329/7. His place of residence at the time of his death was: 74 Warseal Mansions, Fulham, London,

BURIAL: William Henry Macey is buried in Brompton Cemetery, West Brompton, England (Find A Grave Memorial # 66179297)

Sources

BIRTH: England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915. NOTE: Discrepancy in birth date as Birth Index cites July-August-September 1881 and British Army WWI Service records cite November 11, 1883. Both sources cite place of birth as Pontypridd.

MARRIAGE: England & Wales, FreeBMD Marriage Index, 1837-1915.

MILITARY SERVICE: British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920.

DEATH: England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2007.