Leatherhead War Memorials : Pte William J Palmer
1st/5th Bn Royal West Surrey Regiment (Queens)

Town Memorial  P6.R1.C2

Taken Not Given, Liam Sumption, L&DLHS

Pte
William J
Palmer
5th Royal West Surrey Regt
Persian Gulf
Aug 3 1916

It is uncommon to find the death of an individual private soldier recorded in any War Diary of the 1914-18 War. The death of William Palmer (and of Arthur Toone, also from Leatherhead) may be attributable to the fact that the 5th Queens did not sustain the mass slaughter of the Western Front and that their deaths were individual incidents when the Battalion was not on active operations when in Mesopotamia (present day Iraq).

William Palmer is listed in the May 1915 Parish Magazine as being a Territorial. The Queens records show that he was born in Leatherhead and enlisted in Dorking.

5th Queens was a Territorial unit which went to India with the 44th Division in October 1914 to replace the regulars who were needed for service in France and elsewhere. On 2nd December 1915 they were sent to Mesopotamia as part of 34 Indian Infantry Brigade, for operations against the Turks.

The 5th Bn Queens War Diary entry for 2nd August 1916 states that they were stationed at AL NASARIYEH:

"11.10pm Outposts
No.4 Patrol consisting of three privates was surprised by a party of Arabs who crept inside the barbed wire at the junction of the circular and river bunds W of camp and were fired at point blank range. No.2519 Pte W PALMER of "D" Company was hit in the chest and died shortly afterwards in hospital and Ptes COCKLEY and BACON were each severely wounded. When a party of the supports got up, no traces of the Arabs could be found. Two rifles and bayonets lost.

3rd [August 1916]
Death: No.2519 Pte W PALMER was buried at 6.30pm

Outposts:
The barbed wire entanglement was extended & brought down to the river at the point where the Arabs got in on the night of of the 2/3rd & a picquet of 1 NCO & 6 men were posted there.
11.15pm
12 Arabs again crept through the barbed wire & up to the Bund just N of No 6 Post & E of D Coy's camp. There they were surprised by No 3 Patrol who opened fire as the Arabs fled. 1 was killed & possibly some more wounded. Had the Very lights gone off the first or second time undoubtedly more would have been killed. The killed man was subsequently identified by the Intelligence Officer as from BUTANYEH. The mans rifle ammunition & knife were captured with the corpse."

Further research


WILLIAM PALMER
Rank: Private
Service No: 2519
Date of Death: 03/08/1916
Regiment/Service: The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) 1st/5th Bn.
Grave Reference: VI. L. 3.
Cemetery: BASRA WAR CEMETERY

He is listed in the Chapel of Remembrance in Leatherhead Parish Church.
The Church Lads Brigade Tryptich in All Saints Church lists him.
The RBL Roll of Honour lists him.

He is listed in the May 1915 issue of Leatherhead Parish Magazine among those serving.

In the UK, Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects, 1901-1929 William Palmer is recorded with a slightly different service number 2549. His beneficiaries are his mother Charlotte, sister Mary Anne Whittear and brother John George Palmer. 

Some aspects of his family background are not yet clear. So far the earliest connection with Leatherhead appears to be 1911, when he would have been 30, yet he is listed on the Leatherhead Church Lads Roll of Honour. 

His mother Charlotte was born 30th April 1854 in Betchworth, Surrey. Charlotte Palmer was in Epsom Workhouse 15/3/1901 to 6/4/1901.
She died at the age of 72. Her death was registered (Epsom) in March 1926. She is buried in the graveyard of Leatherhead Parish Church:

509: PALMER Charlotte Hannah b1854 d1926 72 18/03/1926
509: WHITEAR James b1872 d1944 72 25/02/1944

She married Thomas Richard Palmer in 1872 (registered Reigate 9/1872). William's father was Thomas Richard/Richard Thomas Palmer. He was born 11th April 1851 in Banstead, Surrey, England and christened 11th April  1852 in in Walton on the Hill, Surrey; his parents were listed as James Palmer and Mary.

In the 1881 Census the Palmer family 1881 were at 7 Peters Cottage, Betchworth. Thomas, then aged 30, was a Brickfields Labourer and they had five children

William Joseph Palmer was born in 1881 in Brockham, Surrey. He is not listed on the Brockham War Memorial.

In the 1891 Census, the Palmer family are recorded at the home of William's 87 year old grandfather, Joseph Earl, at Gadbrook Lane Brockham: Thomas Palmer 39, Charlotte Earl 36, Elizabeth Palmer 14, Florence Palmer 12, Richard Palmer  11, William Palmer 10, Edith Palmer 5, John Palmer 3, Rose Palmer 1.

In the 1911 Census William Palmer, single, aged 30, is listed as a Gardener, boarding with Henry and Kate Penfold and 3 Penfold children in Gravel Hill, Leatherhead. Although a Benjamin Penfold is also listed on the Leatherhead Church Lads Roll of Honour, no connection has yet been found with Henry Penfold.

Sources
Regimental Records, Queens Regimental Museum, Clandon Park, Surrey/Soldiers Died in the Great War
WO95/5193 War Diary 5th Bn Queens, PRO Kew (TNA)
http://www.queensroyalsurreys.org.uk/war_diaries/local/1_5Bn_Queens/1_5Bn_Queens_1916/1_5Bn_Queens_1916_08.shtml

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page created 11 May 2015: updated 18 May 15: 26 Nov 20