Wilfred was the third son of John and Phoebe Laura Wyatt who farmed at Priory Farm Bicknacre. John Wyatt and Phoebe Laura Way had married in Marylebone in 1892.
Wilfred was born in Marylebone, London in 1898 and at the time his father was a cardboard box manufacturer and his mother a teacher of dancing both employers. The family in 1911, consisting of John and Phoebe and four boys, was living at Priory Farm, Bicknacre.
Wilfred enlisted at Chelmsford in October 1916 and was posted to 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards. The battalion was part of 1st Guards Brigade, Guards Division and Wilfred, having completed several weeks of training, would have joined the battalion in early 1917. The brigade was involved in the pursuit of the German Army during their Retreat to the Hindenburg Line, a strategic withdrawal between March and April 1917 and Wilfred may well have been engaged in this action.
He was killed in action whilst the battalion was preparing for its part in the 3rd Battle of Ypres, otherwise known as Passchendaele, on 28th July 1917 when the war diary states that the battalion was in the trenches and came under heavy artillery shelling at dusk.
He is remembered on The Menin Gate in Ypres which commemorates almost 35,000 Commonwealth soldiers missing in action for whom there is no known grave in the Ypres Salient prior to 15th August 1917. He was later awarded the Victory and British War medals and his parents received £4.3s.3d owed to him plus a gratuity of £3
Woodham Ferrers war memorial also has Wilfred’s brothers Arthur John, Geoffrey Joseph and Henry Charles as serving but returning. There is also an A. L. Wyatt who is probably Arthur Lynn Wyatt who joined the Scots Guards and is likely to be a cousin.