William Henry Buckland, was a Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London from, 9th Oct 1935 replacing Yeoman Warder Early (186), he then took over as the Yeoman Gaoler 12 December 1954, and on retirement 1st November 1959, and was replaced as the Yeoman Gaoler by George Arnold.
, Yeoman Warder W. Buckland late Coldstream Guards and Loyal Regt:. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
William was born on the 2nd February 1897, (Although it might be 1895) in Wakefield, his father died and his mother was very poor and so he was placed in an orphanage, although
At the age of 14 (1913) he moved to London and worked for 2 years, as a Baker. On the outbreak of the War 28th July 1914, he enlisted into the Coldstream Guards 9th Sep 1914, he was 16 so claimed he was 18, two years older, and that he was born in Thornton Heath. In later life this caused him some inconvenience, as then he had to retire at the age of 65 when he was in fact 63.
From the 24th February to 27 July 1915 he served with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). This might have been cut short as he sustained a Bomb injury to his left hand which might have been an accident.
He returned to the BEF 5th October 1915 to the 18th September 1916, to fight in the First Battle of the Somme. Had an injury to his arm at the Battle of Beaumont Hamel, which he seems to take in his stride, but on the 15th September 1916, he receives Gun Shot Wound Right Buttock.
He was sent back to England and takes the opportunity to marry Hannah Elizabeth Hunt (born 28 March 1891 Warwickshire) on the 2nd December 1916, in Croydon Registry Office. She already had a son Oliver William Hunt (b 20 Sep 1910). He continues with his military service and reaches the rank of Warrant Officer Second Class (W0II).
The family travelled a lot, Aldershot, Tidworth, Gravesend, Chiseldon Swindon. He would organise Tattoos particularly in Tidworth, he was also a W0II at the Royal Academy Sandhurst.
On the 25th August 1927, William transferred to the 2nd Battalion, The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire Regiment), as their Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM).
While with the Coldstream Guards, he also had a misdemeanour on his record, whilst, a prisoner he was escorting by train escaped, for which he was demoted.
Yeoman Gaoler William Buckland
On retirement from the Army in 1935 William became a Yeoman Warder 1st October 1935, although initially he did not live in the Tower, but some miles away in a Large house in a nice part of Peckham, so for 2 years he travelled into the Tower by Bus. The family then moved into the Beauchamp Tower on the 18th February 1938, then on the 28 Feb 1944 they moved in to the Constable Tower (East casemates), and on promotion Yeoman Gaoler 1st March 1954 he moved into the Yeoman Gaolers traditional accommodation No. 5 Tower Green.
Francis Buckland
2 responses to Yeoman Warder William Henry Buckland 214
From 1946 to 1953, Yeoman Warder W H Buckland sent an official Christmas Card to my mother, Margaret Joyce Blewett, who had met him on a school trip when she was 12 years old. The last letter from him was just before she married in the spring of 1954.
Strangely, in the 1960’s they met again by chance on a bus in Basingstoke, Hampshire.
By coincidence, he enlisted into the Coldstream Guards on the very same day as my paternal grandfather, Edward John Gloster, who then reported for duty at Caterham on 11th September 1914 before being posted to the BEF on 9 February 1915 in the 2nd Battalion. I have to wonder if they were in the same battalion?
My grandfather also received an accidental injury from a dummy bomb on 8th May 1916, when he moved forward too soon during a training exercise. He remained in the field until he was shot in the arm on 31 July 1917, the first day of 3rd Battle of Ypres. He returned to England until he was recalled to the field in late March 1918 during the Battle of the Somme.
William henry buckland is my great grandfather,I am the granddaughter to his youngest child arthur, just a couple of things the black and white photo isn’t of william, that is of his son Francis, and not all his children were married at the Chapel Royal of St Peter Ad Vincula, my grandfather married my nan in another church.
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