William was the fifth child of Mary Ellen and James Critchley and their third son. He is in the picture with his dad on the Isle of Man and with his two older brothers and in the back yard of the Homestead in Knowsley Road with all his surviving siblings. He joined the family business to drive the bakery van to do the deliveries.
In 1913, the year his oldest brother Tom got married, William was working in Eccleston, most likely delivering bread or picking up supplies when he spotted a boy drowning in a pit. William successfully saved the boy's life. For this act of gallantry, he was presented with the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society's bronze medal.
When William joined the merchant navy as crew on the SS Ortega, he had an adventure in the Straits of Magellan. It occurred on 18 September 1914 when the Ortega was navigating south, along the coast of Chile, from Valparaiso to Montevideo. In addition to a small fortune, amounting to £117,000, the Ortega was carrying 300 French reservists and confidential mail from the Admiralty. When the vessel was about 50 miles from the entrance to the Straits of Magellan, she sighted the German cruiser, Dresden, approaching on an opposite course. The SS Ortega was only capable of 14 knots whereas the cruiser could achieve a speed of 20 knots. With the Dresden in pursuit, the Ortega changed course for Cape George and the ship's engineers achieved a speed of 18 knots. The Dresden came within range and fired a shot as a signal to heave to. Captain Kinnier of the Ortega, ignored the signal and continued on course, ordering the engineers to increase the speed of the ship to maximum. The Dresden then opened fire in earnest, but the Ortega, stern on, did not make much of a target. All of the shots fell short. Captain Kinnier chanced the shallow and uncharted channels of Nelson Strait, allowing the SS Ortega to reach waters which were impossible for the Dresden to navigate. The captain of the Ortega ordered some lifeboats to be lowered and manned. He ordered them ahead of the ship to take soundings, as the ship followed slowly in their wake. In this way, the Ortega succeeded in navigating nearly one hundred miles of narrow and treacherous channel. The Ortega emerged into the Straits of Magellan, and then into Smyth's Channel making it to Rio de Janeiro and safely.
After the SS Ortega returned to Liverpool, William enlisted for the 11th (Service) Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers. The battalion was raised at Codford in October 1914 as part of Kitchener's Third New Army, and joined 74th Brigade, 25th Division. The Division assembled for training in the area around Salisbury. They proceeded to to France on the 25th of September 1915, landing at Boulogne and was seconded to the area of Nieppe. William and the Lancashire Fusiliers went into action to counteract the German attack on Vimy Ridge in May 1916, where William was sniping at the enemy. William was returning to the dug out when a shell burst killing him and wounding his two companions. He was 23 years old. After that, the battalion moved to The Somme and joined the battle just after the main offensive. The 11th battalion was to return to the Somme and engaged in other battles before armistice. In the 1914/18 war the battalion sustained as many as 1,000 casualties.
William Critchley is buried on plot 1, row H, grave 23 at Ecovres, Mont-t Eloy, near Arras. His epitaph reads, Pte. William Critchley 9827, 11 Bn Lancashire Fusiliers, 6th May 1916.
The picture below is most likely the 11th Lancashire Fusiliers, as they have the same cap badge as in the photograph of William, above.
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