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