William Palmer

William was born in Newton Heath, Manchester on 29 July 1900 but grew up in Hulme and probably joined from 36 Juniper St, Hulme. He worked as a clerk in a timber yard. He had a very dominant mother so his date of enlistment - within a few days of his 18th birthday fits in well with the stories of her absolute rule of the family!

His first enlistment was with the Welsh Regiment in August 1918 and I guess that, as the war ended that year, the regiment was scaled down and he was eventually re-assigned to the LF which had been assigned to duty in Ireland. I believe the transfer took place in February 1919 although the card says 7.2.1921

The photograph WP LF 1 shows him (half seated far left middle row) in a group taken at Porter's Studios Alexandra Rd, Manchester which must be shortly after his transfer to the LF as he is still wearing the cap badge of the Welsh Regiment. Other members of the group seem to have a variety of cap badges so I suppose they were also transferred from other regiments.

The equipment on view in the photographs and the mention that he had 'a good knowledge of signalling' is consistent with some of the memories I have of him speaking of his time in the Army , although he was reluctant to mention it. He did once tell me that he was caught in an explosion in a booby-trapped building in Dublin in which some of his pals were killed and his own hair and clothes were set on fire.

The locations and dates of the other two photos are not known but he looks a little older in WP LF 2 ( right of back row above)
and older again in WP LF 3 ( Extreme right of back row below)

After the war he returned to his job as a timber yard clerk and lived most of his life in the Manchester area.

Williams discharge documents click on them to enlarge them

Regards
sent in by Terry Haslam-Jones (Williams grandson)

On the 18th March 2011 I was contacted by Steve Lawrence of the Tulla Pipe Band who wrote as follows:-

The bass drum shown in the picture was presented to the Tulla Pipe Band (County Clare, Ireland) by the Commanding Officer of the XX Regiment of Foot around 1920.

It was presented as a gesture of goodwill after the band's original drum was smashed by the Black and Tans.

I thought you might like a picture of it, as you can see the rope work has recently been restored.
Would you happen to know the name of the Officer in charge when the drum was presented?
The Tulla Pipe Band are currently celebrating their 75th year and we are collecting facts that are relevant to our history, so any information would be greatly received.

I recently sent this to the Fusilier Museum but did not get a response, so I'm trying you, hope that's ok?

Thank you for your help.

Steve Lawrence.

I replied on the 19th March 2011 as follows:-

What a wonderful gesture of the XX during "The Troubles"

The1st Battalion of the XX Lancashire Fusiliers were stationed in Ireland 1919-1921.

I would like to write a small feature for the LF web site if you would kindly let me have a few pics of the band, and a few others of the wonderful drum from different angles?

Should the drum ever become unusable as an instrument, I will gladly replace it with a new one, so we could have the old one back
( I know, but it was worth a try! Ha Ha)

The band are considering their response.

Joe Eastwood.