William Holwill

Bank: National Provincial Bank of England
Place of work:  Barnstaple branch
Died: 16 May 1918

William Bertram Holwill was born on 13 May 1895, the second son of Henry Holwill. He was educated at Crediton Grammar School. In February 1915, when Holwill was 19 years old, he went to work for National Provincial Bank of England at its Barnstaple branch.

In 1916 Holwill joined the army, initially as a Private in the 28th (Artists' Rifles) Battalion of the London Regiment, before being commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Machine Gun Corps. On 21 March 1918 Holwill was reported missing in action, having been last seen firing his revolver, surrounded by Germans. News came in May that he had been wounded and taken prisoner.

Second Lieutenant Holwill died of his wounds in Germany on 16 May 1918, three days after his 23rd birthday.