Pte 26153 William Duncalf

William Duncalf was born in Liverpool in 1875, the eldest of at least 10 children. Parents John Duncalf and Jane Rollington, both from Liverpool, married in 1874.  His siblings were Sarah, George, John, Jane, Eleanor, Mary, James, Thomas and Samuel. His mother died in 1895 and his father in 1903. 

William married Alice Maud Harvey when he was 24, in St. Matthew’s Church, Liverpool on 31^st May 1900, giving his address as 25 Wilbraham Place, and his occupation as labourer.  After the marriage the couple lived with Alice’s parents in Brookhill Road, Bootle. 

In the following years they had three children: Alice Maud was born on 20/7/1901,  William on 01/01/1904,  and George on 24/01/1908. 

By 1911 William and Alice are living at 35 Cedar Street, Bootle, with their three children. William is 35, a builder’s clerk. 

His wife Alice died on 02^nd February 1915, aged 35, leaving William with three children aged 13, 11, and 7. Her death and subsequent inquest was reported in the Liverpool Daily Post on 06th July 1915 under the headline:

A SORDID STORY.

Tragic Death Of A Soldier's Wife

A sordid story of drink and suicide was related at an inquest held before the Deputy County coroner (Mr F. A. Jones) at Bootle yesterday, relative to the death of a married woman named Alice Maude Duncalf (35) Cedar Street. Private William Duncalf of the 17th service Battalion of the King's Liverpool Regiment said the deceased was his wife. She had been drinking for about 10 years, but more so for the past 4 or 5 years, Saturday in particular. He had had occasion to search the inspector for cruelty to children. He was formerly a builders clerk, but thinking that less money might be better for her, he joined the army. It was his practice to come home at the weekends for an hour or two, and on each occasion he had found her under the influence of drink. On the 5th ult., she was only slightly inebriated, but the following day he discovered her to be hopelessly drunk on the kitchen floor. When he had told her that she would kill herself the way she was going on, deceased had replied "I'll watch it." She was in receipt of 30 shillings per week to keep herself and 3 children. Alice Duncalf, the 13-year old daughter, said her mother was rarely sober and when in drink threatened to take her life. When she was sobered she would remark that she was too young to die. Since her husband joined the army deceased had been drinking heavily. About a week prior to her death deceased sent witness for some laudanum for neuralgia. She sent her on many occasions during the week. On several occasions witness had found her lying on the scullery floor with the gas tube in their mouth, but the gas has not turned on. On the 1st inst. witness found her lying on the floor with the gas tube in her mouth, and on that occasion the gas was turned on. Witness turned it off, and thinking her mother was in drink left her and went to bed. About 5 a.m. the next morning the deceased had not gone to bed, and witness found her as she had left her the previous night. Subsequently the police were called in and her mother was said to be dead. The police-surgeon, Dr C. V. McCormack, who made a post mortem, said the death was due to gas poisoning. The jury returned a verdict of suicide whilst of unsound mind, and expressed sympathy with the husband and family.

As his Army record no longer exists, we do not know the details of William’s military service, but we do know that he enlisted in 17^th (Pals) Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment, as Private 26153, and at some point was transferred to the 13^th Bn K.L.R. 

In April 1916 the battalion was in the Ypres salient, and spent the month of May in trenches at Locre.  At the beginning of July the battalion arrived in the Somme sector at Doullens and on the 10^th were in trenches near Carnoy.  On 13^th July the battalion took part in the successful attack on the German front line at Bazentin-Le-Grand and later in the month assisted in the attack on Delville Wood.  No details are available, but William was killed in action on 6^th August 1916, aged 41. His body was never found and he is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial to the  Missing, Somme.

The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.

On 01st August 1932 the Prince of Wales and the President of France inaugurated the Thiepval Memorial in Picardy. The inscription reads: “Here are recorded the names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields between July 1915 and March 1918 but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.”

William’s children were 15, 12, and 9 when he was killed.  His brother George, living at 6 Oregon Street, Bootle, became the guardian to his motherless children whilst William was away.  George received a pension of 15/- a week, the motherless rate, from 19/2/1917.

William is commemorated on Bootle Civic Memorial.