M2/120950 Private
Driver attached 39th Division, Ammunition Sub Park, Army Service Corps
Age: 29
Date of Death: 22.7.17 DoW
Buried: Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery XVI.E.10A https://www.theypressalient.com/post/lijssenthoek-military-cemetery
Family history: Husband of Jeannie, they lived at 42 Glebe Street, Falkirk with their two children Jeannie and James. Prior to enlisting in the Army Service Corps on 10 September 1915, he was employed as chauffer to the owner of the Mathieson Bakery a prominent business in Falkirk.
An Ammunition Sub Park was in effect a fleet of lorries and a workshop that maintained vehicles of a transport company. Sub Parks came under the command of the Lines of Communication and were usually for operational purposes attached to a Division and were the supply chain for the Division. They were equipped with Maudslay 3-ton lorries.
The action leading to his death
William was a very good light car driver, according to his army record. On the night of 12/13 July 1917, William was in a convoy which was heavily shelled. He went to the aid of a lorry in which both drivers had become wounded. He drove the truck clear. He was to die of wounds received in action on 22 July. His commanding officer wrote to his wife that had William lived he would have been recommended for the Military Medal.
Headstone
Medals Awarded:
The British War Medal, Victory Medal.
