Source: 18th Battalion Association Memorial Booklet and Awards.
Family Search: When Private William Preece was born on 10 May 1898, in Mara Twp, Ontario, Canada, his father, John Preece, was 32 and his mother, Christina McKinnon, was 32. He married Margaret Jean Stewart on 6 December 1922, in Penetanguishene, Simcoe, Ontario, Canada. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 2 daughters. He lived in Ontario, Ontario, Canada in 1911 and Orillia, Simcoe, Ontario, Canada for about 16 years. He registered for military service in 1916. In 1915, at the age of 17, his occupation is listed as machinist in Orillia, Simcoe, Ontario, Canada. He died in 1951, at the age of 53, and was buried in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada.
PREECE, William M.M.: regimental number 642315, enlisted in the 157th (Simcoe Foresters) Battalion, March 2, 1916. He was single, 17, a Machinist, living in Orillia. Born in Mara, in 1898, a son of Lieut. Col. John Preece & Christna MacKinnon. He arrived in England, Oct 28, 1916, and joined the 18th Battalion, in France, April 22, 1917, and remained there until march 9, 1918. In the Battle of Passchendaele, Pte. William Preece was a Battalion runner and was carrying messages from his front line company to the Battalion Headquarters through an area which was constantly shelled. Several of his comrades had become casualties and the whole of the work had devolved on him. Although blown up by shell fire on two occasions he carried on and delivered messages continuously. He was awarded the Military Medal, for his conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He returned home, in January 1919
History of the 18th Battalion CEF, "The Fighting Eighteenth" 