| Description | Work completed by volunteer includes the following information:
William Calvert was born at Wood Lane, Beverley on 4 Jun 1895, the son of Benjamin and Mary Jane Calvert. William was the eldest child of nine. His father was a carpenter and joiner employed by Cook, Welton and Gemmell of Beverley. In 1911 fifteen-year-old William was working as a grocer's assistant.
On 5 Aug 1915 William Calvert enlisted in the 10th (Service) Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment. The 31st Division sailed from Devonport on HMT 'Minnewaska' and arrived Port Said, Egypt on 8 Dec 1915 where they spent three months in the Canal Zone. They left Egypt for France aboard HMT 'Tunisian' arriving Marseilles on 7 Mar 1916. The Division returned to the Somme Front and took part in the Battle of the Ancre. The 92nd Brigade attacked north of Serre and it was here William was wounded on 13 Nov 1916. The Beverley Guardian 25 Nov 1916 reported Mr Benjamin Calvert had been informed by the War Office that his son Private William Calvert was wounded and now in hospital in Lincoln. After recovering from his wounds William was posted to the 6th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment and served as a Company runner with this unit throughout 1917. In Jan 1918 he was transferred to the 7th Battalion based in Rugeley, Staffordshire. William was discharged to the Army Reserve on 20 Mar 1919 and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
William returned to Beverley and resumed his occupation as a grocer. He married Ethel Medd at Beverley Minster on 17 Jan 1922. William and Ethel had four children Eric, Leslie John, Freda and Peter. In 1972 William and Ethel celebrated their golden wedding anniversary with a family party. Ethel died in 1976 and William, veteran of the Great War and old soldier of the East Yorkshire Regiment, died in Beverley in 1987 at the age of ninety-two.
Includes photograph, information taken from census, military records, Commonwealth War Graves, newspapers |