William Nathan Prior was born in Stratford, east London, in 1891. He was one of four children born to Nathan and Anne Prior.
William’s father, Nathan, was an active member of Wanstead Congregational Church and a founding member of the Wanstead Men’s Meeting. Nathan had been an agricultural labourer in Essex before moving to Stratford in 1873. Like so many others at this time, he moved to London in search of work.
Anne Prior, his wife, was born in King’s Lynn, Norfolk. She and Nathan married in West Ham in 1883 and by 1901 the family was living at 36 Mornington Road, Wanstead. In 1911, William was still living at Mornington Road and was working as a commercial clerk with a metal merchant.
Soon after war broke out in August 1914, William enlisted with the 2nd/ 4th Battalion, the London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers). On the night of 15th October 1915, William and his battalion landed at “W” Beach on the Gallipoli peninsular in Turkey.
The Gallipoli campaign aimed to defeat the Turkish Ottoman army, one of Germany’s key allies. In the event, over 400,000 Allied troops were killed and wounded. The campaign ended in defeat and controversy.
On 23rd December 1915, William was wounded when his dug out was hit by a Turkish shell. The medical arrangements in Gallipoli for the wounded were totally insufficient. The casualties often outstripped available resources and injured men suffered.
On 4th January 1916, William died of his wounds on a hospital ship during the evacuation of Gallipoli. He was buried at sea and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial in Gallipoli; he was 24 years old.
Research by Wanstead United Reformed Church
Sources:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Ancestry.com