William John Hardwidge, born on 22nd August 1899, was admitted to King Edward’s School in September 1915, after three years at King Edward’s Aston. His father, Edwin, was a carman on the London and North Western Railway, and the family, including his mother, Mary, and sister, Clara, lived at 231, Aston Church Road, Saltley.
At School, William was a talented linguist, winning a French prize and a Latin and English prize in 1917.
William enlisted as a Private Soldier in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry in 1917, and was sent to France in April 1918. Only days later, on 23rd April 1918, he was reported missing and presumed killed near Ypres. He is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial, and his medals remain unrequested.