Private William John Champness

Army Number : 235227 (formerly 2889 2/1st Battalion Hertfordshire Regiment)

Battalion : 7th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derbys) Regiment.

Born at Bishop Stortford, Hertfordshire. Son of Mary Ann Brett. Husband of Mabel Champness, of 103, Cann Hall Road, Leytonstone, London. He was a painter prior to enlisting 7th September 1914 at Bishop Stortford. He went to France on 7th July 1917 and was transferred to the 7th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derbys) Regiment, 27th July 1917. He sustained shrapnel wounds to the left buttock, 26th September 1917 and was treated at 32 Casualty Clearing Station at Brandhoek, Belgium. He was then transferred to 7 General Hospital St. Omer. He rejoined his battalion on 27th October 1917. He died on 23rd July 1918, aged 32, of bronchitis as a prisoner of war at Soltau Hospital, Saxony, Germany.

Buried : Hamburg Cemetery, Germany. Plot 6, Row B, Grave 7.

Private William John Champness is also commemorated on the following memorials:-
Bishop Stortford War Memorial, Bishop Stortford, Hertfordshire.