10th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).

Awarded the M.M. in the London Gazette of 26 March 1917.

Eva was a native of Burnley, Lancashire.

The Burnley Express of 7 April 1917 reported, GOT HIS M.M. RIBBON. Burnley Collier Wins Medal. L/Corporal William Henry Eva, 16482, of the Scottish Rifles, has written to his wife who resides at 202, Gannow lane, Burnley, to say he has been awarded the Military Medal, and that he is already wearing the ribbon. He has been extraordinarily fortunate, apart from his honour, for though he has been at the front two years in May, he has never been wounded or ill, and has been in the big battles at Festubert, Loos, Ypres, Armentieres, Vimy and the Somme, besides the incessant trench warfare. He joined the forces on November 7th, 1914, and was formerly a collier at the Bee Hole Pit. Thirty two years of age, he has two children. He got his medal for bravery in the trenches, and in his letter home he says: - "I stuck to my post with my Lewis gun after my pals had been killed and wounded, it was a miracle I was not knocked out that night. God was on my side." On February 26th, he wrote "I am wearing the ribbon for the Military Medal, and I have taken a stripe, I am in charge of a gun team. No doubt you will have read in the papers about the big daylight raid which took place on the 14th of the month. Well it was our battalion that did it. We managed to enter their third line of defence and took 13 prisoners and killed about 60, so it was a great success. I am glad I was spared."


The photo (right) of W.H. Eva from an original postcard circa 1917, the property of Brian Hirst - great nephew of William Henry Eva.