William Samuel Perrier
2nd Lieutenant
4thBattalion Royal Fusiliers
Division 46
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William Samuel Perrier was the grandson of Charlotte Maskell and is commemorated on the grave of his grandmother and Horace Clarkson. Grave number 5122.
William Perrier was aged 25 when he was killed in action. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial Panel 6&8. The grave memorial is particularly important because it bears William Perrier’s own words in an extract of a letter to his parents, written shortly before he went into action. The small lead letters are slowly wearing away so the full inscription is given below.
In
Loving Memory
Of
2ND LIEUT. W. S. PERRIER
4TH BATTALION ROYAL FUSILIERS.
(GRANDSON OF CHARLOTTE MASKELL)
WHO FELL IN ACTION AT ST. ELOI ON 27TH MARCH 1916
AGED 25 YEARS
AND WAS INTERRED ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE.
……….………….
EXTRACT OF A LETTER WRITTEN BY THE ABOVE
BEFORE GOING INTO ACTION.
MY DEAREST MOTHER AND FATHER –
IF YOU RECEIVE THIS LETTER YOU WILL KNOW THAT YOU HAVE
MADE YOUR GREATEST SACRIFICE I.E. YOU HAVE GIVEN YOUR SON’S LIFE
TO HIS COUNTRY. WHEN YOU LET ME JOIN THE ARMY AS AN OFFICER
YOU DID SO WITH THE FULL KNOWLEDGE THAT THE GREATEST SACRIFICE
YOU COULD MAKE WAS TO GIVE YOUR SON’S LIFE FOR YOUR COUNTRY.
WELL THE SACRIFICE HAS BEEN MADE. FOR THIS LETTER WILL
ONLY BE SENT TO YOU IN THE EVENT OF MY DEATH.
I KNOW FULL WELL THE GRIEF THESE TIDINGS WILL CAUSE YOU.
YET YOU WILL BE HAPPY BECAUSE I AM HAPPY.
I AM DOING MY DUTY, AND I KNOW AND FEEL THE SACRIFICE
HAS NOT BEEN IN VAIN AND THAT ENGLAND WILL RISE TO
GREATER THINGS THAN SHE EVER DREAMT OF
I AM EVER YOUR LOVING SON BILLY
The 27th March 1916 was the date set for the British to regain St. Eloi which had been lost the previous March prior to the Second Battle of Ypres. After that battle the area settled in to a constant war of harassment. Martin Marix Evans describes the scene in his book ‘Passchendaele’.
“Fortifications were improved though more attention was given to this by the Germans than the British. The former…built deep underground bunkers…concrete pillboxes and redoubts to secure the line. The British…were dedicated to the ejection of the invader….their trenches were seen as jumping off points for an advance…..The conditions endured by both sides were abominable.”
Five months after the Germans had taken St. Eloi the British began a massive mining operation and at 4.15 am on the 27th March 1916 a bombardment of the German front line started and six mines were blown. Two front line companies of a German Jäger Battalion were wiped out. The British (9th Brigade) rushed to take the first three craters and the German third line. It is likely that William Perrier was lost in this action. The battle ground was confusing with old craters mistaken for new and the line split in the German counter attack. Fighting was fierce and the line, such as it was, was taken over by the Canadians on 6th April. The fighting continued until the 14th -15th April by which time the Canadians had suffered 1,373 casualties.