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Dvr. William Smallshaw
British Army 57th Division Ammunition Column Royal Field Artillery
from:119 Gwladys Street, Everton, Liverpool
(d.8th Jul 1917)
William Smallshaw is my Great Uncle, he was born in Liverpool on 9th July 1886. The parental family home was at 119 Gwladys Street, Everton in Liverpool next to the Everton F.C. He was the eldest son of 12 children born to William John and Margret Ellen Smallshaw (nee Gilroy), the husband of Alice (nee Graham) on 11th May 1912, and father of William, Nora, and Alice. He was described by my great-aunt Hannah as a very responsible, mature family man of smaller stature, 5 feet 3 inches (1m 60cm), with a tattoo of Buffalo Bill on his left forearm. Interestingly, Buffalo Bill actually toured the UK in the 1900s and visited Liverpool twice during his time there. Maybe William saw him during that time.
Prior to the start of the Great War in August 1914, William had served for four and a half years with the 1st West Lancashire Division, Liverpool, which had since been disbanded. In November 1915, the War Office authorised its reformation, now designated 55th (West Lancashire) Division. In December 1915 he was re-enlisted as a driver for the 57th (2nd/1st West Lancashire) Divisional Ammunition Column, Royal Field Artillery, which was a second-line unit for the Territorial Force, based at the Drill Hall on Stanley Street in Liverpool. In May 1916, as part of the Great War military force expansion, they became the 276th Brigade RFA DAC, commanded by Brigadier-General N.H. Bray. After completing further training in Aldershot they moved to France in February 1917 and disembarked at Le Havre. On 25th February they took over a section of the Western Front under the command of the II ANZAC Corps. On 6th of July 1917 near Estaires in France, William, another young driver Bartholomew Dodding 695980 (whose parents lived close by), plus others were severely injured by heavy enemy shelling. William and Bartholomew died from wounds on or about 8th July 1917, sadly on William’s 31st birthday. Both are buried at Merville Communal Cemetery Extension in France. Buried between them is Pte. H.P. Moore 335857, 2nd/10th Btn. Liverpool Scottish (The King’s Regiment).
William had three brothers (George, Ernest, and James) who also served in the Great War. Of the four, only Ernest survived to see the Armistice in November 1918. My great-grandmother Margret Ellen was so overcome with grief at the loss of my three great-uncles in such a short space of time that she reacted by stripping the house of all their belongings. No one was allowed to discuss them as a way for her to try to move on with her life and what remained of her family. I won’t ever truly understand the pain she must have gone through with their loss.
The Smallshaws are of a single-line family first recorded in the 13th century in an entry of the Court Rolls of Wakefield in Holne (now Holme) in the West Riding, Yorkshire, England under William de Smalschaghe (1277) and Robert de Smaleschawe (1298). In a Yorkshire Deed (1322) is mentioned the vaccary (a cow-pasture, of Lancashire origin) of Smaleshagh. The Smallshaw name is of 7th century origin Smael-sceaga, meaning a small wood (shaw). This homestead was to become a hamlet and is now a suburb of Ashton-Under-Lyne, Greater Manchester. In the 14th century, the Smallshaws left their homestead and settled in the ancient priory village of Upholland, Lancashire. The family are mentioned in various documents throughout and beyond the 17th century, particularly in the period of the English Civil War, they were Royalists. It is here they would remain, and the family origins would be traced to and then through the 19th century. It is at this time (1830s) during the advent of the Industrial Revolution when the nearby city of Liverpool expanded due to its thriving port. Like many families in this region during that time, some would relocate from their farming village communities in search of regular work in that city and even abroad.
