Willie was the third of four children of Samuel and Martha Spencer. In 1911 the family were living at 6 Walter Street, Idle, where 17-year-old Willie was described as a butcher. The family had been at the same address ten years before but then the head of the household had been Martha’s father, Robert Lee. There is little coverage of Willie’s war record but we do know that he was one of the Idle soldiers who were put on farming duty when men were desperately needed to help keep food production going. “Pte T Thornton, of 156 Highfield Road, was the first soldier to be put on agricultural work in this district. He is engaged at Pudding Hall Farm. “Two others who have recently taken up similar work locally are Pte Willie Spencer, Walter Street, and Pte R Taylor, Walter Street, both of whom are employed on a farm at Eccleshill.” Shipley Times & Express 6 April 1917 There is no report of Willie’s death in the newspaper but the family inserted a notice in the Births Marriages and Deaths column and a year later, a series of memorials.