William John Shields, 2463 Pte.

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a soldier of the border regiment
remembered with honour

Name	William John Shields
Rank	Private
Number	2463
Battalion	5th Border Regiment
Company
Enlisted	Egremont, Cumberland (resident in Cleator Moor, Cumberland at time of enlistment)
Ctry of service	United Kingdom
Where died	F & F
How died	d.
Age	22
Date of death	10th April 1915
Casualty type	Commonwealth War Dead
Grave ref.	I. A. 77.
Resting place	Longuenesse (St. Omer) Souvenir Cemetery
Additional info	Son of John Shields, of Wath Brow, Cleator Moor, Cumberland.
Source	{{{source}}}

References and notes

See notes and definitions for primary source material and further information.

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This is a dedicated remembrance page for William John Shields, 2463 Pte., a soldier of The Border Regiment during The Great War.
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Abbreviations and notes for soldier's remembrance infobox
d. = died (see point 7 below)	d.o.w. = died of wounds	k.i.a. = killed in action	F & F = France and Flanders (inc. Italy)
Places where soldiers were born, enlisted and died (or buried) have been listed as it was originally published in Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-19, Volume 39, The Border Regiment. As a result you may notice some variations in spelling due to a combination of factors including the changes made in the Governmental reform of 1965 and 1974. Some place names changed slightly and some county borders were moved, which either enlarged or reduced these counties in overall size. It might be possible that a town belonging to one county could now belong to another when the borders of those counties moved. Many military abbreviations have also been included here as it was published at the time, for example, the rank Sergeant is sometimes spelt Serjeant depending on the source material. Various ranks have also in many cases been abbreviated, for example, Private is abbreviated to Pte., Lance Corporal to L/Cpl. and Company Sergeant Major CSM Resident signifies where the soldier was living at the time he enlisted. The residences of the enlistees, in many cases, were different to places they enlisted in. Att'd/trans. signifies a soldier was attached or transferred to another unit whilst serving in the Border Regiment. Former unit signifies a soldier served in another unit prior to be transferred to the Border Regiment. Awards are included if a soldier was awarded, for instance, the Distinguished Conduct Medal. This field is usually left blank although many casualties of the Border Regiment were awarded for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. This terminology was usually used in awards such as DCM citations. A full list of Distinguished Conduct Medal Citations has been transcribed. How died can be somewhat ambiguous, for instance d. simply signifies that the soldier died but does not elaborate any further. This could mean he died as a result of sickness such as dysentry, colitis, pneumonia or malaria etc., or possibly an accidental death. Where died usually signifies the theatre of war such as France and Flanders, Macedonia, Gallipoli, Balkans and/or a country such as Egypt etc. Grave ref. list a variety of different references. Most will provide alpha-numeric references and some will show, for instance, Panel 6, Rear of churchyard or in other cases will simply remain blank as no reference has been provided.