No.202894, Private, William Parker DAY
Aged 36
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William Parker Day was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire on in 1880 (Grantham Q2-1880 7A:541) son of John Philip and Elizabeth DAY (née MASON).
1881 census...Aged 10 months, he was at 5 Artillery Terrace, Grantham with his father John DAY [25] bricklayer, born Clavering, Essex; his mother Elizabeth [30] born Toft, Lincolnshire and sisters Clara [4] and Elizabeth E [2] both born in Grantham. 1891 census...Aged 10, as Barker DAY, he was at the Farmhouse, Gaston Green, Little Hallingbury, Essex with his parents (father now a carpenter ); sisters Clara, Elizabeth and Ethel [5] born Little Hallingbury; brothers Philip [7] and George [3] both born in Little Hallingbury. 1901 census...Aged 20, as Parker DAY, he was a worker at Great Sampford, Essex with his parents (father now a miller); sister Ethel and brothers Philip and George In 1909 he married Lily Beatrice JOHNSON in Ashdon. 1911 census...William Parker DAY, aged 27 (?) a corn miller, he was boarding at the Rose Inn, Burwell with Jabey and Agnes CHAPMAN. His wife Beatrice Lily [27] born Hempstead, Essex was with their daughter Emily [1] born Romford, visiting Henry and Lizzie GRAY at Pitley Farm, Great Bardfield, Essex. Their address later was Casburn's Lane, Newnham, Burwell. The entry on CWGC indicates he was born in Ashdon, but this was actually Beatrice's birth place.. |
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He enlisted in Newmarket.
The 15th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment spent May 1917 in trenches in the ravines and folds in the ground behind Sharta (southern Palestine), but William was on board the troopship Transylvania. On 4 May 1917, the Hired Transport "Transylvania", proceeding from Marseilles via Alexandria to Salonika with reinforcements, was sunk by a torpedo from U-63 off Cape Vado, a few kilometres south of Savona, with the loss of 412 lives. Carrying nearly her full complement of troops (3,000), she was escorted by 2 Japanese ships, 'Matsu' and 'Sakaki'. When a torpedo hit, the Matsu pulled alongside to take on board the troops. A second torpedo, fired at the Matsu, missed her and hit the Transylvania which sunk immediately. A memorial in Savona commemorates 275 casualties whose graves are unknown, others are buried in scattered cemeteries in Italy, Monaco France and Spain. |
photo: Commonwealth War Graves Commission
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