William Buss
This name is on Holy Trinity Church, Clapham Common
Private, East Surrey Regiment, 9th Battalion
Service no. G/24702
Died of wounds on 25 July 1917, aged 23
CWGC: "Son of Lewis and Laura Buss, of 4, Charlotte Place, North Clapham, London."
Remembered at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Poperinge, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Information from British Army Service Records
At the time Buss enlisted he was working as a porter in an infirmary and living with his family at 4 Charlotte Place, Clapham. We do not know the exact date of his enlistment at Kingston upon Thames because his records are in such a poor state - the burnt sections have been cut away so that they can be photographed and are therefore very incomplete. However, we do know that he was just over 22 when he attested.
His height was recorded as 5 feet 6 and three quarters, his weight as 134 pounds and his chest as 36 inches with 3 inches expansion. He had tattoos on both arms.
Buss was sent to France on 22 December 1916. He was found to be suffering from shell shock on 13 June 1917 and admitted to hospital, but was returned to duty on 23 June. On 24 July he was hit by a high explosive shell and severely wounded in the buttocks, dying the following day. He had served 293 days.
Information from the 1911 census
In 1911 the Buss family lived at 23 Rashleigh Street, Clapham (Wandsworth Borough). William's father Lewis Buss, 42, was a general labourer working in construction. He was born in Brenzett, Kent (near Romney Marsh). His wife, Laura, 39, was from Lambeth. William, their eldest child, was 16 and working as a general labourer. He was born in Lambeth. His siblings were:
Florence Buss, 15, born in Clapham
Arthur Buss, 13, born in Clapham
Edith Buss, 6, born in Wandsworth
(A younger brother, Sidney, was born some time after 1911.)
The family occupied two rooms. Of Lewis and Laura's six children, three had died. Two of them are recorded on the 1901 census as Matilda, 4, and John, 1. In 1901 the family lived at 541 Wandsworth Road and Lewis was employed as a potman in a bar.
Rashleigh Street, adjacent to Heath Road, was described by Charles Booth as "very rough and poor".