William Gilbert's Story.
Liverpool Echo 12 September 1916LIEUT. AND ADJUTANT W. G. SAUNDERS KILLED.
Lieutenant and Adjutant W. Gilbert Saunders, A.I.C., F.C.S., Ph.C., a director of Ayrton, Saunders, and Co., Limited, only son of Mr. W.H. Saunders, chairman of the company, was killed in action on the 6th inst., the day following his birthday, when he attained his twenty-seventh year.
He joined the K.L.R. almost immediately upon the outbreak of the war as second-lieutenant, afterwards becoming lieutenant and the adjutant of the battalion.
Mr. W. Gilbert Saunders received his early education at Marlborough College, Liverpool, after which, he proceeded to Bonn-on-Rhine, Germany, and Neuchatel, Switzerland. He served his apprenticeship to the retail with Mr. Herbert Taylor, of Woolton, after which he took charge of the packed goods department of the company.
Afterwards he studied under Mr. Humphrey Jones, of Liverpool, for the “minor,” which he successfully passed a few weeks after becoming twenty-one years of age.
He passed the “major” the following year. Returning to Liverpool, he passed the matriculation examination of the Liverpool University, and studied in the chemical department of the University for a year, after which he successfully passed the intermediate, and later the final examination of the Institute of Chemistry.
Mr. W. G. Saunders was most versatile with his pen, and contributed articles to the “Pharmaceutical Journal” and the local Press. He was a tall young fellow – 6 feet 3 inches – and extremely popular with everyone with whom he came into contact. His loss is deeply lamented by every member of the staff in Hanover Street, by whom he was much beloved.