William Leonard Wheeler was born in Epsom, Surrey, on 8th September 1896. He was the fourth of six children to John and Mary Wheeler. John was a carman in a brickyard, and the family lived in Nonsuch Cottage on Leith Road.
When William finished his schooling, he took work as a gardener. He sought bigger and better things, however, and, on 12th September 1912, he joined the Royal Navy. Too young to formally enlist, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and sent to HMS Impregnable, the training ship, to start learning the skills he would need.
Impregnable would remain Boy Wheeler’s home for the next nine months, during which time he was promoted to Boy 1st Class. On 18th June 1913, he was give his first posting, on board the cruiser HMS Gibraltar. In November 1913, William was reassigned, and took up a post on board the battleship HMS Bulwark.
William came of age in September 1914, and fully enlisted in the Royal Navy. Given the rank of Ordinary Seaman, his service papers show that he was 5ft 1in (1.55m) tall, and had light brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.
Bulwark was part of the Channel Fleet, tasked with patrolling and defending Britain’s southern coast. On 26th November 1914, she was moored in the River Medway, close to Sheerness, and was being resupplied with shells and ammunition. That morning, a handful of the cordite charges overheated, detonating the shells stored nearby. The explosion ripped through the vessel, and more than 740 crew – including 18-year-old William – were killed.
Ordinary Seaman Wheeler’s body would be recovered from the wreckage until 8th July 1915. He was laid to rest in the naval section Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent, a short distance from the the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham.
