The name of Captain William Allan Hollwey, a former Midsomer Norton Head Boy, poet and Cambridge University student, is to be added to a village War Memorial more than seventy years after his death.
Bill Hollwey was born on 11th January 1920 and lived the best part of his life on Stockhill Road, Chilcompton, where his father worked at New Rock Colliery and his mother ran a small sweet shop. He died in action during the Second World War, yet his name is absent from the village War Memorial. It is an omission that Parish Councillor, David Richardson-Aitken, is determined to put right.
Following an observation by village historian, David Strawbridge, at last year's Remembrance Sunday, Cllr Richardson-Aitken has been researching the life of this forgotten soldier.
He said: "Not only was Bill very much a Chilcompton man, but he was an important one. It is our intention to have his name added to the village War Memorial and once the work has been completed, hopefully by June, we will have a Service of Remembrance for him."
Bill attended Midsomer Norton County School during the 1930s, excelling in history and English, his poems were regularly published in the school magazine, The Nortonian. He represented his school in cricket and hockey and eventually became Head Boy in 1937. From there, he went on to study at Selwyn College, Cambridge, having been awarded a Senior County University Scholarship.
Enlisting in 1939, he was called up the following year, commissioned in 1941 and promoted to Captain in '42. Whilst attached to the 10th Battalion (Pathans), Royal Indian Army Service Corps, he died fighting at Htizwe, Burma, on 16th March 1943.
Although he has no known grave, Bill is remembered in the Taukkyan War Cemetery, Rangoon, and also on the Norton Hill School War Memorial. His omission from the Chilcompton memorial is thought to be because his parents moved to Wiltshire at the beginning of the war.
Cllr Richardson-Aitken said: "I have also been in touch with his niece, Helen, and kept her informed on the progress of the research. She told me that the family had no idea that Bill was not included on the Chilcompton War Memorial. She also told me that his death came as a huge shock and Bill's father never completely recovered from the news. The story is that his father's hair turned white overnight when he learned of his son's death.
"Helen has got Bill's medals and some of his poetry. Photos of these, along with his life story, will be part of the online exhibition on the Chilcompton village website in the near future."