William Francis Eve (1894-1981) was born in Clapham, London, on 22 September 1894, the son of Richard Edward Eve and Emmeline Augusta Eve. His father was a silversmith and the family lived at 9 Solon New Road, Clapham.
By 1911 William had moved in with his uncle Henry James Melhius and his wife Blanche Millicent at 3 Highworth Gardens, Midhurst Road, West Ealing, Middlesex. Around this time he also joined the Territorial Force, enlisting with The Queen’s Westminster Rifles.
Following the outbreak of war, Eve was called up on 26 August 1914 and joined his unit at its headquarters at 58 Buckingham Gate. Like most Territorial soldiers he immediately volunteered for ‘Foreign Service’.
After forming up at Hemel Hempstead, his battalion eventually landed at Le Havre on 2 November. The Queen’s Westminster Rifles were amongst the very first Territorials to enter the line as reinforcements for the hard-pressed British Expeditionary Force (BEF).
On recovering from trench foot, Eve was promoted to lance-corporal and eventually commissioned in September 1915 as a second lieutenant in the 2/6th (City of London) Battalion (Rifles), The London Regiment. Unfortunately, he developed epilepsy and was invalided from the Army in July 1916.
Eve settled at 79 Harrow View, Harrow, Middlesex. He married in 1922 and lived in Surrey where he died in February 1981.
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