16th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
William Albert Parham was born in 1885 in the parish of St Aldates, Gloucester..
In 1907 he married Mary Ann (maiden name unknown) and the couple had five children.
According to the 1911 Census the family lived at 2 Park Street, Gloucester and William’s occupation was shown to be ‘general labourer’.
Little is known of his military service. His Medal Index Card held at the National Archives indicates that initially he served with the Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment) with number AR/8530, before he joined the Cameronians.
His medal entitlement is for the Great War and Victory Medals only (no 1914-15 Star), which is an indicator that he joined the Army, or at least went abroad, in 1916.
The fact that he switched regiments is possibly an indicator that he was wounded or was sick and upon recovery was re-assigned to the Cameronians.
Unfortunately no Service or Pension Record has survived and there is no record of him being awarded a Silver War Badge which would indicate discharge due to wounds or sickness.
He died on 18 July 1918, age 33, at a hospital in Glasgow.
The Gloucester Journal of 27 July 1918 carries a short report of his funeral and this confirms that at the time of death his address was still 2 Park Street, Gloucester.
The funeral was described as ‘semi-military’, with a firing party and a rendition of the ‘Last Post’.
A recently released Pension Record Card gives the cause of death to be pneumonia, contracted on active service.
He was buried in Gloucester Old Cemetery, where a CWGC headstone marks his grave in the Great War plot: the inscription reads: Gone but not forgotten, from his wife and children.
Researched by Graham Adams 6 June 2014 (revised 5 August 2021)