209145 Cpl. William Spear British Army 2nd Battalion East Lancashire Regiment from:Burnley Bill Spear was my Grandfather. Born in Burnley in 1890. His Father, Richard Henry Spear was the secretary of the Burnley Miners Union. Richard Henry was born in Cornwall and as a boy travelled with his Father, a miner in Cornwall, to the coal mines of Lancashire. Grandad Bill worked in the coal mines from 14 or 15 years old. In 1910 he joined the East Lancs at Fulwood Barracks, Preston and was sent to South Africa on Garrison duty. In 1914 he was sent back to Southampton and travelled with the 2nd Battalion to the Western Front. My father states that he did not return until 1920. Grandad became a founding member of the MGC, Machine Gun Corps. In WW2 he lived in Coventry and the Luftwaffe bombed his house. In the 1960s he, with his wife Ada, moved to Australia to be with us. He had a fall from a carpark roof and after a long time in hospital failed to recover. In 2007 I had a holiday in Europe and stumbled upon Fulwood Barracks. The museum is not open on Fridays. I happened to arrive on a Friday. To my surprise they opened the museum when I said that Grandad joined the East Lancs at Fulwood Barracks in 1910. Just the memory of the day makes the hair on my neck stand. We were there on 27th or 28th of June,the Regimental Day is 1 July, Somme Day. One day I hope to return to attend a Regimental Somme Day. It was a day that changed my life and I shall be eternally grateful.
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