William Hammett

Private William Hammett – Dorsetshire Regiment, 1^st Battalion

Early Life

William Hammett

William Hammett was born in 1895 in Mumbles, the eldest son of William and Annie Hammett. His father, William Hammett (senior), worked for many years as a gravedigger at Oystermouth Cemetery, where the family lived in the Cemetery Lodge.

1901 Census

According to the 1901 Census, the Hammett family were residing at Cemetery Lodge, Mumbles. William (senior), aged 32, was employed as a General Labourer, and Annie, aged 28, managed the home. Their children were William (6), Alfred (4), and Edwin (2).

1911 Census

By the 1911 Census, the family remained at Cemetery Lodge. William (senior), now aged 42, was employed as a Gravedigger, while Annie, aged 38, cared for their growing family. Their eldest son, William (16), was working as a Mason’s Apprentice, while his younger siblings — Alfred (14) and Edwin (12) — were still at school. The younger children were Kathlene (9), John (7), Mary (6), Harry (4), and Graham (3).

Military Service

When the First World War broke out in 1914, William Hammett (junior) enlisted in the British Army, joining the 1st Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment. The battalion formed part of the 15th Brigade, 5th Division, which served continuously on the Western Front from the earliest months of the war.

The 1^st Dorsets fought in major early engagements, including the First Battle of Ypres, Neuve Chapelle, and Hill 60 near Ypres — where they faced intense shelling, heavy casualties, and the first large-scale use of poison gas by German forces in the spring of 1915.

Death

Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects

Private William Hammett, serving with the 1^st Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment, was killed in action on 2^nd May 1915, dying from the effects of gas poisoning.

On the evening of 1^st May 1915, the battalion was holding the front-line trenches at Hill 60, near Ypres, when the Germans launched a gas attack — one of several during the Second Battle of Ypres. According to war diary accounts and reports preserved by the Keep Military Museum (Dorsetshire Regiment Archives) and other sources, B and C Companies of the battalion were relieved at 5 a.m. on 2^nd May 1915 following the attack. Later that day, the remainder of the battalion withdrew to dugouts near a spoil heap known as “The Dump.” The battalion’s records note several casualties from gas poisoning, and one source lists two killed and seven wounded on that date as a direct result of the operations at Hill 60.

These events coincide precisely with the recorded date of Private Hammett’s death, confirming that he was among those who suffered during the gas attack and its aftermath.

The Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects further records that he had died from the effects of gas poisoning sustained in action. He was only 20 years old.

Burial

William Hammett
Menin Gate Memorial
credit - findagrave

Private William Hammett has no known grave. His name is recorded with honour on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Belgium — a monument to over 54,000 soldiers of the British Commonwealth who died in the Ypres Salient and have no known resting place.

Legacy

The loss of Private William Hammett was deeply felt in Mumbles, particularly by his family, who continued to live at Oystermouth Cemetery. His father, William Hammett (senior), remained in his post as gravedigger, tending the resting places of others lost in the same war — a quiet but deeply moving connection between home and the battlefields of Flanders.

Private William Hammett – Dorsetshire Regiment, 1st Battalion, is remembered with honour on the Menin Gate Memorial and among the Mumbles war memorials, ensuring his name endures as part of the community’s shared history of service and sacrifice.

His story represents both devotion and loss — the son of a man who buried the dead at home, himself laid to rest far from home on the Western Front.