Herbert Clapham was born on 24th December 1892 at Pannal, the eldest son of Thomas and Grace Clapham. At the time of the 1911 Census, Herbert, then eighteen years of age, was employed as a labourer on Pannal Golf Course and continued to live with his parents in Main Street, Pannal.
Herbert remained an employee of Pannal Golf Club until he enlisted into the army when he was posted to the Royal Field Artillery. He went overseas on 30th August 1915, and was serving as a gunner with A Battery of 161st Brigade when he was treated for influenza in May 1917. At some point later he was transferred to C Battery of 84th Army Field Artillery Brigade and promoted to lance bombardier.
In the first week of October 1918 84th Brigade went into action north of St-Quentin. The batteries moved up on 1st October to Etricourt, between the villages of Nauroy and Magny-la-Fosse, while the wagon lines were near the canal, south of the village of Bellicourt. Two days later, the batteries were in action, firing barrages in support of two successful attacks made by Australian troops; although the brigade war diary makes no mention of casualties on that day, 25-year-old Herbert Clapham is recorded as having been killed in action on 3rd October. He lies buried in Bellicourt British Cemetery; the inscription on his headstone, chosen by his mother, reads EVER IN OUR THOUGHTS.