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4839 Gunner William Keam, Royal Horse Artillery & Royal Field Artillery

Identification

There were two results for William Keam in the CWGC database. Cross-referencing them with UK Soldiers Died in the Great War showed that one was from Widnes and the other was born in and lived in St Austell. I assume that the soldier from Widnes is more likely to be our man. The only problem I have with this is that I cannot find anything to link him to St James' Church. It is possible of course that in between the 1911 census and his death in 1916 he moved into the area or he had family in the area.


Family information

William Keam was born at 4 Cholmondeley Street, Widnes, on 8th February 1889. His parents were Elizabeth and Richard Keam, an alkali labourer. (Widnes was a centre for the chemical industry).


The return for the 1891 census shows they still lived at 4 Cholmondeley Street, Widnes. Interestingly, Richard Keam was from St Austell, so the other William Keam on the CWGC may have been a relative.


William’s father died in the winter of 1900. At the time of the 1901 census Elizabeth and their five children (William aged 12, Herbert aged 8, Elizabeth aged 6 Thomas aged 4 and Harriet aged 2) were still living at 4 Cholmondeley St, now with 2 boarders. They were enumerated incorrectly as Keen.


Elizabeth remarried to James Herbert in 1905 and they remained at Cholmondeley St.


At the time of the 1911 census the family were somewhat split up. Elizabeth and her new husband were living at 28 Cholmondeley St, Widnes. William Keam (working as a chemical labourer) and his brother Herbert Keam were with them, as were 4 more children, apparently 3 from this marriage and one from James Herbert's previous marriage.

However, when looking for William’s other brothers and sister I found that Elizabeth Keam was working as a servant and Harriet and Thomas Henry Keam were both inmates at West Derby Union Cottage Homes, Fazakerly. The cottage homes were for children who were orphaned, or whose families couldn't cope with them for some reason. Stays there could be temporary eg while a mum was in hospital having a baby, or they could be permanent - until they were old enough to find work and a place to live or had to move to another institute for older children.


William Keam married Eliza Tipper in 1912, in 1915 they had a daughter, Doris E. K. Keam.


Military Information

None of William's service papers have survived, we know from the information on his medal card, CWGC entry and UK Soldiers Died in the Great War entry that William was a Gunner in 'D' Battery, 147th Brigade of the Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Field Artillery with regimental number 4839. He first entered the war in the Balkans on 16th August 1915. This made him eligible for three campaign medals: the British War Medal, the Victory Medal and the 1914-1915 Star.

It is noted on his medal index card that his 1914-1915 star was returned for amendment of surname from Kean to Keam.


The early date of entry to the war shows that William was either already in the Army or the Army Reserve or he volunteered at the outbreak of war. The 147th Brigade served first in Gallipoli then in the Somme.


Death and commemoration

William Keam died of wounds in the 'Western European Theatre' France and Flanders on 23rd October 1916 and is buried at HEILLY STATION CEMETERY, MERICOURT-L'ABBE which is in the Somme area of France.

The register of soldier’s effects shows that William died at the 38th CSS (casualty clearing station) and his money was sent to his widow Eliza.



The war diary for the 147th Brigade RFA records that Gunner William Keam was wounded on the 21st October 1916. The entry for that day reads:


Battalion again heavily shelled.

Casualties: 2/Lt Lockwood D/147 Battery wounded, 5 Other Ranks wounded, 1 Other Rank missing. Lt R.C. Donnolly 97th Battery killed and 5 Other Ranks wounded. 2 Lt K R Park 10th Battery wounded and 2 Other Ranks wounded.

Ammunition expended noon 21/10/16 to noon 22/10/16 60 High Explosive, 309 4.5 High Explosive. Day misty though fine in the morning – D/147 Battery in action 4 hours.



We know that William was in D/147th Battery which is mentioned. The wounded men would have been taken to the nearest Casualty Clearing Station which was the 38th at Heilly. Two days later William died from his wounds (which were most probably shrapnel wounds from heavy shelling by the enemy).

William died during a period of heavy casualties which the cemetery couldn’t cope with so he, like many others there, was buried in a shared grave. The soldier he was laid to rest with was Private George Watt Sinclair of the 55th Battalion Australian Imperial Force. George Sinclair had received multiple gunshot wounds whilst moving back from the front line trenches to camp. He was taken to the 38th Casualty Clearing Station and died there on the same day as William Keam. The following photograph of their shared headstone was provided by a relative of Private Sinclair who visited the grave from Australia.



Pension records show that his widow Eliza, living at 51 Viaduct St, Widnes, received a pension for her and their daughter.


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Brothers

William's brother Herbert enlisted on 3rd Sept 1914, he was in B Coy 12th Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment. His papers have survived and show that he was promoted to Corporal. On 12th Dec 1917 Herbert was awarded the Military Medal for gallantry and devotion to duty in the field (gazetted 19/3/18 p3465) He was then attached to the 66th Infantry Brigade Headquarters but on 7th February 1918 had a bicycle accident which left him with serious head injuries, a court of enquiry found that the injuries were accidental, Herbert was on duty at the time and in no way to blame. His injuries were deemed serious but not likely to affect his performance as a soldier.

Herbert was demobilised on 28th March 1919.


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