William Henry Daborn

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Grave/Memorial:  		Daborn, William H

1880, Woking, Surrey

Henry and Fanny (née Chowney)

Queen's Own (Royal West Kent) Regiment /
7th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment

18017 / G.5788

Private

7 July 1916, France, age 36

Thiepval Memorial, Thiepval France: Pier and Face 7 C 		   
Biography:
William Henry Daborn came from a very large family. He was born in Woking, on 6 February 1897, the son and second child
(of nine) of Henry, a labourer, and Fanny Harriet (née Chowney). After the death of William’s mother, in 1897, his father
remarried, to Elizabeth Chowney (née Balchin) and they had a further four children. Elizabeth also brought four children from
her previous marriage, making a total of seventeen.

After leaving school, William became a nursery worker.

William appears to have joined up in 1916. Originally with The Queen's Own (Royal West Kent) Regiment, he was transferred to
7th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment.

In July 1916, the 7th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment was part of the 36th Brigade, 12th (Eastern) Division, fighting in the
Battle of The Somme. During the first week of July, they were engaged in the area around Albert and Bouzincourt and, on 6 July,
they were facing the Germans in front of Ovillers. William was killed on 7 July 1916.

William Henry Daborn’s final resting place is not known. His name appears on Face 7 C of the Thiepval Memorial, Thiepval
France.

William’s younger brother, Frederick John Daborn, is also commemorated on St John’s War Memorial.



The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears
the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom
and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March
1918 and have no known grave.

The memorial was built between 1928 and 1932 and unveiled by the Prince
of Wales, in the presence of the President of France, on 1 August 1932.