William Charles Williams

He held a landing line under heavy fire until he was killed.

Able Seaman William Charles Williams was born in Shropshire on September 15, 1880. He joined the Royal Navy as a boy in 1895 and served in several ships before joining the Royal Fleet Reserve in 1910. After returning to civilian work in Newport, Wales, he was recalled to service at the outbreak of the First World War. In 1915 he joined the crew of the converted collier SS River Clyde for the Gallipoli landings.

At V Beach, Cape Helles, the River Clyde was run aground to bring troops close to shore. The landing depended on lighters and boats being secured together so that soldiers could cross from the ship toward the beach. Turkish defenders met the landing with intense rifle and machine-gun fire, and the exposed work of fixing and holding the lines became vital to the movement of men ashore. Williams held on to a line in the water for more than an hour under fire. The official account records that he continued until he was killed on April 25, 1915.

The Victoria Cross was awarded posthumously, among the decorations recognizing the sailors’ efforts to sustain the landing from the River Clyde. Williams was the first Royal Navy recipient to receive the Victoria Cross posthumously. His name is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial and in Chepstow, where he had lived before the war.

Official Victoria Cross citation

“Able Seaman William Charles Williams, O.N. 186774 (R.F.R., B.3766). Held on to a line in the water for over an hour and under heavy fire, until killed.”

### Sources

- The London Gazette, August 16, 1915, Admiralty notice and despatch concerning the landing at V Beach, Gallipoli, and the Victoria Cross award to Able Seaman William Charles Williams. - Victoria Cross and George Cross Association, “William Charles Williams VC,” service record and action account. - Gallipoli Association, “AB William Williams VC,” biography and account of the V Beach landing. - Imperial War Museums, “Able Seaman W C Williams VC,” War Memorials Register.