Second Lieutenant William George John Parker DCM

1894–1918

William George John Parker was born in Fulham in 1894 to William Henry, a plumber, and his wife, Eda Jane Carter (nee Warren). In 1911, at the age of 16, he was living with his family in Kinnoul Road and working on the District Railway as a “ticket sorter”. At the age of 19 William enlisted in the Army Cyclist Corps.

Cycles had been used by the British Army since the 1880s. Their primary use was for reconnaisance and communications, with cyclists often going behind enemy lines. Whilst it may seem odd for us today, in the late 19th century cycles were the future. Unlike horses they didn’t need feeding, were easy to transport and did not require an entourage of blacksmiths for their upkeep. The standard military bike (BSA Mark IV) had oil lamps attached to the front and back and clips to hang a rifle from.

By 1909 the headquarters for the London cycling corps - known as the 25th County of London Cyclists Battalion - was located at Fulham House; a local landmark on the approach to Putney Bridge tube station which is still used by the Army today.

At the beginning of the Great War, a new Army Cyclist Corps was established. In November 1914 newspaper adverts and flyers were encouraging men to “cycle for the King”. William answered the call and by 16 March 1915 he had landed in Le Harve with the 47th London Divisional Cyclist Company. On 25 and 26th May 1915, several of his company were subject to an attack and it was as a result of William’s courage in recovering the wounded from the field of action that he was later awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for “conspicuous gallantry”. Only a few weeks later, on 16 June 1916, both he and his commanding officer were wounded and two men died in a training hand grenade accident.

In 1917 William was commissioned to the Heavy Section Machine Gun Corps, which was later known as the Tanks Corp. Now tanks, not bikes, were the future and William, along with 200 other cyclists, were transferred to the new battalions. These armoured vehicles made their debut in the Somme in 2016 and later at the Battle of Passchendaele between July and November 1917. It is likely that it was in this theatre of war that William received wounds from gas attacks.

William returned to England and was stationed with the tank corps at their camp in Bovington, Devon. Sadly, he died only a month before Armistice day, not as a result of his wounds but of one of the other mass killers of the war, dysentery.

The lives of those who served with the London Cyclist Battalion are celebrated on a plaque in All Saints Church, Fulham.