Pte 30225 William Thomas Gray

• Age: 21
• From: Liverpool
• Regiment: 13th Kings
• Died on Tuesday 8th October 1918
• Commemorated at: Forenville Mc
  Panel Ref: A.15

William Thomas Gray was born in the March quarter of 1897, the son of John Gray and his wife Mary (née Parker).  Both born in Liverpool, his parents married at St Mary's Church, Walton in 1891.  William had an older brother John Ernest, and younger siblings James and Mary Eva.

At the time of the 1901 census the family is living at 50 Sleepers Hill, Everton, with three sons. His father is 38, a flour miller, William is 4 years of age.

His father appears to have died in 1904.

By 1911 they have moved to 24 Goldie Street, Liverpool. His widowed mother is 38, John Ernest is 17, a flour mill labourer, William is 14, a bread shop boy, James is 10 and Mary Eva is 7.

His mother remarried in late 1914 to Thomas Brennan.

William enlisted in Liverpool as Private 30225, 19th Battalion of The King’s Liverpool Regiment.

At some point he was transferred to the 13th Bn K.L.R. The medal roll shows that he was promotoed within the 19th Battalion as he was Lance Corporal and was subsequently Acting Sergeant before his transfer. CWGC and the medal roll show his rank as Lance Corporal but his medal index card shows Acting Sergeant.

William was killed in action on 08th October 1918, aged 21, and buried close to where he fell, his grave marked with a cross. 

After the war, when graves were concentrated, his body was exhumed, identified by his clothing, rank badge, and buttons, and reburied in Forenville Military Cemetery, where he now rests. 

Forenville village was captured on the 08th October 1918 and two cemeteries were made nearby: La Targette British Cemetery and Forenville Military Cemetery (at first Forenville Communal Cemetery Extension). La Targette British Cemetery was made by the 3rd Division on 15 and 24 October 1918, close to a German Cemetery. It contained 49 graves, mostly of 8 October. It was removed to Forenville Military Cemetery after the Armistice. Forenville Military Cemetery was made by the Guards and 2nd Divisions between 10 and 20 October 1918 and it contained originally 52 graves (of which 19 belonged to the 1st Royal Berks). The site was chosen in continuation of a German Cemetery, now removed. Forenville Military Cemetery contains 101 First World War burials. The cemetery also contains the graves of six Second World War airmen.

The CWGC Graves Registration form initially showed date of death as 13th October 1918.

The pension card in the name of his mother Mary Brennan, 10a Kirkdale Road, Liverpool, does not specify the amount of pension awarded. She had remarried in 1914 to Thomas Brennan. She received a War Gratuity of £15

William was the second loss his mother suffered. His brother John Ernest, Cpl. 10518, 6th Bn South Lancs Reg., was killed in action, aged 26, in Mesopotamia on 09th April 1916.  Ernest is remembered on the Basra Memorial, Iraq.

Both William and John are commemorated in Liverpool’s Hall of Remembrance, 47 Left.

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