Casualty of WWII, William served as The Marquis of Hartington [Lord Hartington]in the 5th Bn. Coldstream Guards, Guards Armoured Division.Service No:90720.
He was killed in action by a sniper in Belgium while his company was trying to capture the town of Heppen, which was being held by troops of the German SS.In the weeks before he died, his battalion had been engaged in heavy fighting in Northern France. In early September, they crossed the Somme and pushed east towards Brussels, where his unit was one of the first to liberate the city.
Of the townsfolk and villagers who turned out and cheered the Allies, and in some cases decorated their tanks, William wrote to his wife of feeling "so unworthy of it all living as I have in reasonable safety and comfort during these years..... I have a permanent lump in my throat and long for you to be here as it is an experience which few can have and which I would love to share with you."
Awards: Mentioned in Despatches
He was 26 and the eldest son of Edward William Spencer Cavendish, K.G., 10th Duke of Devonshire and Mary Alice Gascoyne-Cecil,the Duchess of Devonshire of Chatsworth, Derbyshire. He left a widow,Kathleen Agnes "Kick" Kennedy Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington,of Westminster, London,the sister of 35th US President John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy.They were married on 6 May 1944 at the Register Office in Chelsea Town Hall on King's Road in London, England.The bride, second daughter of Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald was given away by her eldest brother,Lieutenant Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Jr.
[She was subsequently killed on 13 May 1948 in an air crash at Saint-Bauzile, Ardèche, Rhône-Alpes, France.]
William's place in the order of succession was taken by his younger brother, Lord Andrew Cavendish — later 11th Duke of Devonshire.
He had stood as the official Conservative Party candidate of the Wartime Coalition in the 18 February 1944 by-election for Derbyshire West but was defeated by the Independent Charles White who had resigned from the Labour Party to challenge Hartington in contravention of the war-time Coalition's truce on partisan campaigning.
He was killed in action by a sniper in Belgium while his company was trying to capture the town of Heppen, which was being held by troops of the German SS.In the weeks before he died, his battalion had been engaged in heavy fighting in Northern France. In early September, they crossed the Somme and pushed east towards Brussels, where his unit was one of the first to liberate the city.
Of the townsfolk and villagers who turned out and cheered the Allies, and in some cases decorated their tanks, William wrote to his wife of feeling "so unworthy of it all living as I have in reasonable safety and comfort during these years..... I have a permanent lump in my throat and long for you to be here as it is an experience which few can have and which I would love to share with you."
Awards: Mentioned in Despatches
He was 26 and the eldest son of Edward William Spencer Cavendish, K.G., 10th Duke of Devonshire and Mary Alice Gascoyne-Cecil,the Duchess of Devonshire of Chatsworth, Derbyshire. He left a widow,Kathleen Agnes "Kick" Kennedy Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington,of Westminster, London,the sister of 35th US President John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy.They were married on 6 May 1944 at the Register Office in Chelsea Town Hall on King's Road in London, England.The bride, second daughter of Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald was given away by her eldest brother,Lieutenant Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Jr.
[She was subsequently killed on 13 May 1948 in an air crash at Saint-Bauzile, Ardèche, Rhône-Alpes, France.]
William's place in the order of succession was taken by his younger brother, Lord Andrew Cavendish — later 11th Duke of Devonshire.
He had stood as the official Conservative Party candidate of the Wartime Coalition in the 18 February 1944 by-election for Derbyshire West but was defeated by the Independent Charles White who had resigned from the Labour Party to challenge Hartington in contravention of the war-time Coalition's truce on partisan campaigning.
Casualty of WWII, William served as The Marquis of Hartington [Lord Hartington]in the 5th Bn. Coldstream Guards, Guards Armoured Division.Service No:90720.
He was killed in action by a sniper in Belgium while his company was trying to capture the town of Heppen, which was being held by troops of the German SS.In the weeks before he died, his battalion had been engaged in heavy fighting in Northern France. In early September, they crossed the Somme and pushed east towards Brussels, where his unit was one of the first to liberate the city.
Of the townsfolk and villagers who turned out and cheered the Allies, and in some cases decorated their tanks, William wrote to his wife of feeling "so unworthy of it all living as I have in reasonable safety and comfort during these years..... I have a permanent lump in my throat and long for you to be here as it is an experience which few can have and which I would love to share with you."
Awards: Mentioned in Despatches
He was 26 and the eldest son of Edward William Spencer Cavendish, K.G., 10th Duke of Devonshire and Mary Alice Gascoyne-Cecil,the Duchess of Devonshire of Chatsworth, Derbyshire. He left a widow,Kathleen Agnes "Kick" Kennedy Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington,of Westminster, London,the sister of 35th US President John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy.They were married on 6 May 1944 at the Register Office in Chelsea Town Hall on King's Road in London, England.The bride, second daughter of Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald was given away by her eldest brother,Lieutenant Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Jr.
[She was subsequently killed on 13 May 1948 in an air crash at Saint-Bauzile, Ardèche, Rhône-Alpes, France.]
William's place in the order of succession was taken by his younger brother, Lord Andrew Cavendish — later 11th Duke of Devonshire.
He had stood as the official Conservative Party candidate of the Wartime Coalition in the 18 February 1944 by-election for Derbyshire West but was defeated by the Independent Charles White who had resigned from the Labour Party to challenge Hartington in contravention of the war-time Coalition's truce on partisan campaigning.
He was killed in action by a sniper in Belgium while his company was trying to capture the town of Heppen, which was being held by troops of the German SS.In the weeks before he died, his battalion had been engaged in heavy fighting in Northern France. In early September, they crossed the Somme and pushed east towards Brussels, where his unit was one of the first to liberate the city.
Of the townsfolk and villagers who turned out and cheered the Allies, and in some cases decorated their tanks, William wrote to his wife of feeling "so unworthy of it all living as I have in reasonable safety and comfort during these years..... I have a permanent lump in my throat and long for you to be here as it is an experience which few can have and which I would love to share with you."
Awards: Mentioned in Despatches
He was 26 and the eldest son of Edward William Spencer Cavendish, K.G., 10th Duke of Devonshire and Mary Alice Gascoyne-Cecil,the Duchess of Devonshire of Chatsworth, Derbyshire. He left a widow,Kathleen Agnes "Kick" Kennedy Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington,of Westminster, London,the sister of 35th US President John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy.They were married on 6 May 1944 at the Register Office in Chelsea Town Hall on King's Road in London, England.The bride, second daughter of Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald was given away by her eldest brother,Lieutenant Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Jr.
[She was subsequently killed on 13 May 1948 in an air crash at Saint-Bauzile, Ardèche, Rhône-Alpes, France.]
William's place in the order of succession was taken by his younger brother, Lord Andrew Cavendish — later 11th Duke of Devonshire.
He had stood as the official Conservative Party candidate of the Wartime Coalition in the 18 February 1944 by-election for Derbyshire West but was defeated by the Independent Charles White who had resigned from the Labour Party to challenge Hartington in contravention of the war-time Coalition's truce on partisan campaigning.
Inscription
"He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time: for his soul pleased the Lord."
[from the Wisdom of Solomon]
