William Henry Payne was 1 of 10 children born to Arthur, a brass finisher & Mary. He was born in Luton in January 1890.

In the 1911 census he is 15 years old, living at 15 Chobham Street & working as a straw hat packer. Also living at the address was his 52 year old widowed mother,2 sisters & 3 brothers.  Ada, a 28 year old milliner & Jane aged 19, a domestic servant. Sidney, 23, an electrician, Frank, 14 worked as a grocer's errand boy & 10 year old George.

Although a service record has not survived, we do know from his medal index card that he served as a Pioneer in the Royal Engineers Inland Waterways & Dock Companies. This division of the RE were billeted at Stonar Camp near Sandwich in Kent. They worked alongside the Railway Operating Division at the port of Richborough. This is where materials were ferried to & from Belgium by barges, largely built at the port, & trains.

In 1917 he married Linda May Goode.

He survived the war, but died on 9th July 1919. He is buried in Crawley Green Cemetery.