b. 15/09/1881 Barrow in Furness. d. 04/08/1912 Barrow in Furness.
DATE OF EM ACTION: 04/08/1912 Barrow in Furness, Lancashire (now Cumbria)
William was one of eleven children of John and Anna Maria Ackred (nee Moden). In 1904, he married Pamela Wheeler in Barrow in Furness. They had two children, John William and George Rupert, who was sadly born a few months after William died in the incident which led to the award of his posthumous Edward Medal.
EM CITATION:
On the 4th August, 1912, a gas flue, which is a thousand yards long and 6 feet in diameter, was in process of cleaning at the Barrow Hematite Steel Company’s works, when a workman engaged in the operation entered the tube contrary to orders to recover a broken rake. He was immediately overcome by the gas, as were also two fellow workmen, William Ackred and George Bagnall, who went to his assistance. Harry Parsons twice entered the flue at great risk to his life, and, with the help of Ernest Cannell, Thomas Evans and John Robinson, succeeded in bringing out the three men, who had been overcome and who all unhappily lost their lives.
BURIAL LOCATION: BARROW TOWN CEMETERY, BARROW IN FURNESS, CUMBRIA.
SECTION 1 GRAVE 591.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.
