233794 Pte. William George Clark British Army 1/8th Btn. Worcestershire Regiment from:Willesden, London NW William George Clark was born on 5th January 1889 in Reading, Berkshire. In the 1911 Census, he was living with his parents, brothers and sisters in Willesden, London NW. His date of attestation is 13th February 1916 at just one month before his 27th birthday. His first regimental number was 24144 with the 7th Norfolk Regiment and then he was transferred to the Worcestershire Regiment, 1/8 Battalion and his regimental number was changed to 260029.
The book that I have is a record of his pay dating from 16th June 1917. The first pays are 5 or 10 shillings per week and the place given is “in the field†and then on 5th December 1917 they change to lire in varying amounts, still “in the fieldâ€. This continues until the last two payments in the book, which are 15 francs on 24th September 1918 and 10 francs on 14th October 1918 when the book is full. Pencilled in the back of the book is Date of Embarkation June 15, 1917 and “Leave – Nov 3, 1918. From the UK, WW1 War Diaries (France, Belgium and Germany), 1914-1920, the typed note at the top of the front page is: 25th Division, 75th INFY BDE, the centre of the page shows 1/8th BN Worcestershire Regt, Sep 1918 – Feb 1919. Also, there is a pencilled notation on the front page (from 48 Div. 144 Bde, Italy) and (1915 Apr – 1717 Oct France, same Div and Bde). There are very detailed day-to-day descriptions of the activities including “improving trenches, programme of training, tactical exercises as well as Battalion movements, tactical plans, operation orders in detail, secret orders and reports of the operations, including lists of dead, wounded, prisoners.
After the war, he continued to live with his parents in Willesden and worked with his father as a master plumber until he married Elsie Millicent Breed on 30th April 1922, when they lived in Paddington. Soon after the birth of their daughter, Will went to stay at the Douglas House Convalescent and Holiday Home for Ex-Service Men in Southbourne. He continued to stay there on and off, especially during the winters and the damp days of spring, until shortly after the birth of his son in 1933, he passed away from tuberculosis, contracted as a result of the poor sanitary conditions in the trenches in WW1.
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