William Ewart Boulter

Wounded, he stormed a machine gun alone to save his comrades

William Ewart Boulter was born in Wigston Magna, Leicestershire, on 14 October 1892. The son of a framework knitter, he attended local schools before entering the Co-operative movement's retail trade. By 1912 he was a draper's assistant in Kettering.

He enlisted in the Northamptonshire Regiment on 4 September 1914 and joined its 6th Battalion. Rapid promotion followed. On 26 July 1915 he became a sergeant and sailed for France with the battalion, part of the 18th Division. He served in the trenches and fought in the capture of Montauban on the opening day of the Somme offensive, 1 July 1916.

On 14 July, during the struggle for Trônes Wood, German machine-gun fire halted one company and part of another, inflicting heavy casualties. Although severely wounded in the shoulder, Boulter crossed the open ground alone and attacked the gun crew with grenades, forcing them from their position. His intervention helped the British clear the wood and protected the flank of the wider attacking force. The Victoria Cross announcement appeared on 26 October 1916.

Evacuated to Britain, he underwent prolonged treatment, including surgery to remove damaged bone from his shoulder. King George V presented his Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace on 17 March 1917. Commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in June, he returned to France with the 7th Northamptonshires in August. Trench fever and bronchitis interrupted this second period of front-line service, and he returned to Britain in February 1918. He became a temporary lieutenant on 27 December 1918 and worked with the Ministry of Labour before leaving military service in 1919.

Boulter returned to commerce and helped establish the Leicester knitwear firm Boulter & Hurren in 1922. In 1927 he married Alice Irene Toone. He later held management posts at John Lewis and entered the property business, moving to Wimbledon in 1936.

During the Second World War he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve's Training Branch, receiving an acting pilot officer's commission dated 1 February 1941. He commanded an Air Training Corps squadron in Wimbledon. Ill health eventually ended this service, and his resignation took effect on 25 July 1944. After the war he worked in property management until retiring in 1954.

Boulter died in Wimbledon Hospital on 1 June 1955, aged 62. He was cremated at Putney Vale on 6 June.

OFFICIAL VICTORIA CROSS CITATION The London Gazette, Supplement, 26 October 1916, issue 29802, page 10394.

No. 14603 Serjeant William Ewart Boulter, Northamptonshire Regiment.

For most conspicuous bravery. When one company and part of another were held up in the attack on a wood by a hostile machine gun, which was causing heavy casualties, Serjeant Boulter, with utter contempt of danger and in spite of being severely wounded in the shoulder, advanced alone over the open under heavy fire in front of the gun, and bombed the gun team from their position.

This very gallant act not only saved many casualties, but was of great military value, as it materially expedited the operation of clearing the enemy out of the wood, and thus covering the flank of the whole attacking force.