Pte 26112 William Parker

• Age: 22
• From: Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• Died Tuesday 16th July 1918
• Commemorated at: Levallois-perret Cc
  Panel Ref: Plot 34 I.2

William Parker was born in the June quarter of 1896 to parents Thomas James Parker and Jane (nee Birchall) who were married in St. Nicholas, Liverpool, on 1^st December 1892.  Thomas was born in Liverpool, and Jane in Coventry.  William was baptised on 26^th May 1896 at St. Athanasius, Kirkdale.  He was the second child of five surviving children (three others died young).  His siblings were Thomas, Ellen, Walter, and Henry (Harry).

In 1901 the family is living at 63 Sessions Road, Kirkdale.  His father is a general carter. Thomas is 7, William 5, Ellen 2, they have a newborn baby (who sadly died shortly afterwards). Also in the household is a boarder.  

In 1911 they are at 20 Summer Gardens, Kirkdale.  His father Thomas is a dock labourer.  William, 15, is a Cunard telephone messenger.  Ellen is 12, Walter 4, Harry 2.  His mother’s widowed brother, Henry Birchall, is visiting.

William’s father Thomas died at age 47 in 1913, living at 39 Sessions Road.  His mother Jane died aged 46 in March 1917, when William would have been at Arras.

William’s service record has not survived,  but we know that he enlisted in the first Liverpool Pals battalion to be formed, the 17^th Bn, King’s (Liverpool) Regiment, as Private 26112.  He would have been 18 years old, and apparently lied about his age in order to serve overseas.  

He was billeted at the Prescot Watch Factory and trained locally at Knowsley Hall, then at Belton park in Lincolnshire, then finally at Larkhill Camp on Salisbury Plain before shipping to France with his battalion, disembarking at Boulogne on 7^th November 1915.  

The 17^th Bn is sent to Englebelmer, on the Somme front.  William survived the Battle of the Somme, including the costly failed attack on Guillemont, and the Transloy Ridges, Arras and Passchendaele in 1917. He survived the German Spring Offensive, that cost so many killed, wounded, and taken prisoner.  

On 16^th July 1918 William succumbed to influenza and broncho-pneumonia.  He was 22 years old.

He now rests at the Levallois-Perret Communal Cemetery. He is the only soldier from The King's Liverpool Regiment in this very small cemetery situated on the outskirts of Paris.

The cemetery was used by the Hertford British Hospital. There are now nearly 30, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. Four of these graves were brought from the permanent American Cemetery (No. 34) of Suresnes on the slopes of Mont-Valerien, begun in March, 1918 and containing 1,500 graves.

It can be inferred that William was transferred there from the field, too ill to remain with his battalion, which returned to England on 30th June in readiness for their service in Russia later in 1918. 

William earned his three medals but sadly, his British War Medal and Victory Medal were returned, as his siblings no longer lived in Sessions Road.

His effects went to his brother Thomas and sister Ellen who also received his pension. A portion was also shared by a Mrs Rogers of 60 Rawcliffe Road, Liverpool. (The elctoral roll show Harriette Rogers at this address, the relationship is unknown).  

William is commemorated on the following Memorials:

Hall of Remembrance, Liverpool Town Hall, Panel 52

Cunard Roll of Honour.

We currently have no further information on William Parker, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.