CORPORAL WILLIAM JOHN KNIGHT MM
HAMPSHIRE REGIMENT
3RD JULY 1916 AGE 18
BURIED: BAILLEUL COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION, FRANCE
Can Corporal Knight really only have been 18 when he died; 18 seems far too young to have been a corporal. As for his inscription, that could imply that he was older too. It was chosen by Mrs Knight. A white rose is a symbol of innocence and purity, so it could be an appropriate inscription for a mother to have chosen for her eighteen-year-old son. But 'A White Rose' is also the title of a popular poem, written by John Boyle O'Reilly, and it's extremely unlikely that the Mrs Knight who chose this as an inscription was William Knight's mother.
The red rose whispers of passion,
And the white rose breathes of love;
O the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.
But I send you a cream-white rosebud
With a flush on its petal tips;
For the love that is purest and sweetest
Has a kiss of desire on the lips.
I think that Mrs Knight was William Knight's wife since, however old he was, he was old enough to have fathered a son, and it was this son's grandson who owned Corporal Knight's Military Medal in 2012.