William Henry Andrew was born at Badsey in 1920, the eldest of seven children of William Henry Andrew, a market gardener’s labourer, and his wife, Violet Annie (née Hartwell). He was a pupil at Badsey Council School from 1924-1934.
At the start of the war, at the time of the 1939 Register, William was working as a lorry driver, transporting flour and corn. He lived with his parents and siblings at Sylvan Villas, Chapel Street (present-day No 19), Badsey.
William joined the Royal Air Force (Service No 1043782), 104 Squadron. A squadron detachment was sent to Malta in October 1941, moving to Egypt in January 1942. The squadron later moved to captured airfields in Tunisia.
Leading Aircraftman Andrew was killed in Tunisia on 18th July 1943, aged 22. The Evesham Standard of 24th July 1943 gave the following report:
BADSEY MAN KILLED
L/AC D Andrews (sic), son of Mr & Mrs Andrews, of Chapel Street, Badsey, has been reported killed in the Middle East.
L/AC Andrews, who was 22, joined the RAF a little over two years ago. In civilian life he had been employed by Messrs Bulmers, and previous to that as a lorry driver for Messrs Lilley.
A follow-up article in following week’s Evesham Standard gave the following report repeated the above information but included a photograph and concluded by saying, “He was very popular in the village.”
William Henry Andrew was buried in Enfidaville War Cemetery, Tunisia. The following words are inscribed on his grave: “Beautiful memories are all we have left of the one we loved and shall never forget.”