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A fatal accident occurred on the morning of Tuesday, December 14th 1914, when at Hatton, near Warwick, 27 year old Horace Goodman drowned in one of the canal locks which, as part of the crew of the steam barge ‘Baroness,’ he was engaged to open. He had originally been apprenticed to a blacksmith at Willen, but instead opted to carry out any jobbing work, and on November 17th left his home without saying where he was going. At the inquest, held at Warwick Asylum on the following Thursday, Isaac Merchant, the captain of the barge, said that the man had been engaged a week before he died, and he knew him as Bill. Having left Braunston at 8a.m. they were working up the canal to Birmingham, with Bill opening the locks, but on finding the lock unopened at Warwick the crew knew something was wrong. The captain then ran back, and on emptying the lock the body of the deceased was found, and pulled out with a boathook. Artificial respiration was immediately applied, but to no avail. In a polished elm coffin the body was brought to Willen on Sunday, December 20th, being laid to rest the following day. For the French Wounded Emergency Fund, on September 29th 1915 Miss Payne, of Willen, undertook the selling of little tri colour rosettes and bows, being assisted by Mrs. G. Uthwatt, of Great Linford, and the village schoolchildren. £1 was raised. By March 1916 Mrs. Harry Clarke, a mother of 12, had been almost permanently engaged in farm work in Willen since June 1915. She was daily at work in the hay and corn fields, and also helped in the threshing. For the National Egg Collection for the Wounded, centred at 154, Fleet Street, London, the collectors for the village of Willen were Doris Warren and Dorothy Richardson. By the instruction of the Busby Trustees, at 3p.m. on Monday, May 22nd 1916 about 50 fallen elm trees, ‘on the various Holdings in the parish of Willen,’ were to be auctioned at the Swan, Milton Keynes. Prospective purchasers were to apply to Mr. J.B. Whiting, with a man having been instructed to show interested parties the timber, which could be had on 3 months credit ‘on the usual terms.’ In January 1918 a general servant was needed at Willen Vicarage ‘Apply to Miss Richards.’ In Mr. J. Payne’s barn, which had been tastefully decorated for the occasion, Peace Day, July 19th 1919, began with a dinner for the men, women and children of the village who, under canopies of flags, enjoyed a menu of prime English joints. Mr. Payne and Mr. J.B. Whiting had spared neither money nor labour to make the day memorable, and they acted as carvers whilst Mrs. Whiting, Miss Payne and other ladies looked after the requirements of the company. After dinner a toast to the King was proposed, and during the afternoon sports for the men, boys and children were held, with a tug of war between the married and single men. A tea for the whole village was provided at 5p.m., and because of the weather a piano was obtained for an impromptu concert. Then at 8p.m. the assembly sat down to a splendid supper. The happy day closed at 10p.m with the singing of the National Anthem.
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