COMMEMORATED IN PERPETUITY BY THE

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

William Dewe disembarked in France 7 August 1915 with the Royal Berks Regiment. Lance Corporal Dewe was Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Military Medal for bravery on 12 Sept 1916. The Military Medal was awarded to personnel of the British Army and other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank. It was an award for gallantry and devotion to duty when under fire in battle on land on the recommendation of a Commander-in-Chief in the Field.

The Arras Memorial is a World War I memorial located in the Faubourg d'Amiens British Cemetery, in the western part of the town of Arras, France. The memorial commemorates 34,785 soldiers of the forces of the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand, with no known grave, who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918. The major battle in this area during this period was the Battle of Arras. During the Battle of Arras (9 April - 16 May 1917) about 159,000 British Soldiers were killed wounded or missing (about 4,000 per day) making it the most bloody battle of WW1.

William was born at Sutton Wick as the 2nd youngest of 7 children born to Charles and Charlotte Ann Dewe (nee Bargus). By 1911 the family were living in Mill Street, Steventon. Charles Dewe's occupation was a Shepherd on Farm, a job that William followed him into.

William married in 1912 to Beatrice Alice Nobes of Steventon. They moved in to 37 The Causeway and began to raise a family. At the time of his death, William left wife Beatrice and two children - Albert and Annie. Their second daughter Nellie was born 4 months after William died.

The 1939 register shows Beatrice, Annie & Nellie still living at 37 The Causeway, Steventon. In 1924 William's Father and second wife, Fanny moved in to 21 The Causeway (Pound House), living there until Charles's death in 1927. Pound house has been home to the Dewe family ever since, with William's Nephew, Richard (Dick) living there to this day.

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