William Hugh Coxon was born on 19th August 1893 in Derby. He was one of four children of Thomas William Coxon, a Solicitor, and his wife Edith Margaret (nee Cox) who lived in 109 Radbourne Street, Derby. Coxon entered the school on a Maths Scholarship funded by a firm called Bouch and Pochin in 1907. While a pupil he was an active debater, speaking in one memorable debate in favour of Home rule in Ireland. It is unclear what his occupation was between when he left school in 1911 and the outbreak of war in 1914. In September 1914 he volunteered for the Nottinghamshire and Derby Regiment (the “Sherwood Foresters”) and received his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in January 1915.