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Pte. William Charles Parkes
British Army 2nd Btn Coldstream Guards
from:Tipton, Staffordshire
(d.7th May 1918)
My Grandfather, Private William Charles Parkes of the Coldstream Guards, 2nd Battalion was killed on May 7th and buried on his birthday, May 9th 1918.
The letter that his parents received said: "Dear Mrs Parkes, I am exceedingly sorry to tell you that the news about your son is true, and that he was killed on May 7th. I have already written to his wife, and you may have heard from her since. I assure you that you have my sincerest sympathy in the loss of so good a son. His burial took place on May 9th in the British Military Cemetery and a cross erected at the head of his grave. I trust that it may be some consolation to you to feel that he died a noble death as a soldier for his country. In true sympathy, yours sincerely, L.N. Hodges (Chaplain)"
His son, my Father, William Parkes, was born in September 1916 but we do not know if he got leave to come home - so we do not know if he ever saw him. Sadly, my Grandmother died of the Spanish Flu in November 1918 so my father was an orphan. As the house was bombed during WW2, my Father had nothing of his father's until we realized that one of the medals we had belonged to him. Through the record from the Coldstream Guards and the War Graves Commission, we were able to locate the grave in Bienvillers British Cemetery, France. The trip to France to take my Father to visit his Dad's grave was very. emotional. It was the first time he allowed himself to grieve.
