NOT LEFT TO LIE
LIKE A FALLEN TREE
NOT DEAD

CORPORAL WILLIAM HENRY GILLIAM

LONDON REGIMENT

3RD JANUARY 1917 AGE 18

BURIED: RAILWAY DUGOUTS BURIAL GROUND (TRANSPORT FARM), ZILLEBEKE, BELGIUM


William Gilliam, a shop assistant in Croyden, enlisted in November 1914. Born on 30 May 1899 that means he was 15. He was 18 when he was killed in Belgium in April 1917.
His inscription comes from verse three of 'God of the Living', a hymn by John Ellerton (1826-1893). It expresses the comfort his parents received from their belief in eternal life.

Not spilt like water on the ground,
Not wrapped in dreamless sleep profound,
Not wandering in unknown despair
Beyond Thy voice, Thine arm, Thy care;
Not left to lie like a fallen tree;
Not dead, but living unto Thee.