Pte 12744 William Parker

William enlisted in Liverpool joining the 11th Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private 12744 and arrived in France on 19th May 1915.

 

The 11th was a Pioneer battalion, and in early 1917 was near Arras.  The battalion War Diary shows they worked in the Ronville area in March, repairing the Arras-Doullens and Arras-Achicourt Roads and the Havelock Extension.  The War Diary shows the following casualties -

March

13th  - 1 killed, 3 wounded

16th  - 1 wounded

17th  - 1 wounded

18th - 2 wounded

20th - 1 killed, 1 wounded 

24th - 1 killed, 4 wounded

28th - 1 killed, 10 wounded

April 

4th  - 8 wounded

5th  - 1 killed, 4 wounded, 2 wounded and gassed, 4 gassed

6th  - 3 wounded, 1 shell shock

8th  - 3 wounded

9th  - 1 wounded

12th - moved to billets.

 

William was wounded in action, and his name published in the casualty list in the Liverpool Daily Post on 19th April 1917.

 

He was transferred to the 19th Battalion King's Liverpool Regiment, most likely after recovering from his wounds.

He was serving in the 19^th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 12744 when he was killed in action on the 22^nd March, 1918, during the German Spring Offensive.

The Battalion diary gives an insight into the events of the day:

22^nd  GERMAINE – HAM- MOYENCOURT

The battalion moved up accordingly being in position at 6:30 a.m. About 3pm the enemy attacked the left of our position and advanced on our left flank towards FLUQUIERES. At 4:30 pm an attack was launched on our front and the enemy forced his way through on our right. The remainder of the Battalion was forced to retire to south of FLUQUIERES. During this engagement the Battalion lost 11 Officers and About 21 O.R. The order was given to retire to the defences at HAM. The Battalion by this time was very weak, and passing through the 20^th Division took up positions in HAM, as ordered, getting into position at 2am.

William has no known grave and is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial in France.

The POZIERES MEMORIAL relates to the period of crisis in March and April 1918 when the Allied Fifth Army was driven back by overwhelming numbers across the former Somme battlefields, and the months that followed before the Advance to Victory, which began on 8 August 1918. The Memorial commemorates over 14,000 casualties of the United Kingdom and 300 of the South African Forces who have no known grave and who died on the Somme from 21 March to 7 August 1918.

The cemetery and memorial were designed by W.H. Cowlishaw, with sculpture by Laurence A. Turner. The memorial was unveiled by Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien on 4 August 1930. 

His name appeared in the list of K.L.R.  men killed, published in the Liverpool Daily Post on 16th May 1918.

 

William earned his three medals.

 

His Army effects, including a War Gratuity of £17, went to his aunt Mary Woods, and cousins Henry, William, and Ernest Woods, Mary E. Murphy, and Maud Ollerhead.  No pension card has been found.