William Richard Parker

Rank:

Private

Regimental number:

452488

Unit at enlistment:

58th Battalion

Force:

C.E.F.

Volunteered or conscripted:

Volunteered

Survived the war:

Yes

Wounded:

Yes

Birth country:

England

Birth county:

Nottinghamshire

Birth city:

Nottingham

Address at enlistment:

Paris, Ontario

Next of kin address:

Paris, Ontario

Trade or calling:

Miner

Employer:

Cockshutt Plow Co.

Religious denominations:

Roman Catholic

Marital status:

Married

Age at enlistment:

Letters and documents

Wounded

BX May 25, 1916

Pte. W.R. Parker Returned Home – Paris Man Had Arm Amputated After Being Hit by Hun Shell While Rescuing Wounded

PARIS, May 25. Paris turned out en masse on Tuesday evening, when Private William Richard Parker, West River Street, returned home from the front minus an arm as a token that he had witnessed and had been through the deadly fighting on the Western front. A reception that undoubtedly made his heart rejoice was given the returned hero, who had shed his blood that he might help to keep the flag of civilization flying, and that Prussianism and all that it implies might be wiped off the earth that the smaller nations might be assured of freedom to work out their national policies.

Pte. Parker enlisted in Paris during the early stages of the war, and was drafted into the 58th Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Harry Augustus Genet of Brantford, with a staff largely from Brant County. He trained at Niagara and at Shorncliffe and at the latter camp was drafted into the Second Pioneer Battalion.

Only eleven weeks ago he was wounded in the left arm while carrying a wounded comrade to a place of safety, and later it was found necessary to amputate the member. Immediately after he was struck in the arm he received shrapnel from a shell in his right side, one piece striking just over the heart. The fragments are still in his body. A wife and child live in Brantford