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Key dates over January 1915

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Lives lost on this day: 4

20th January 1915 - Letter from prisoner held in Germany

Rolling casualty count: 603

1st Batt: ‘B’ Lines: Rather more sniping than usual otherwise quiet. Returned to ‘B’ Lines and billeted at Red Barn in Brigade Reserve; 2nd Batt: Marched from Gorre and tool over the defences of Fetouvert and the trenches in front. ‘C’ and ‘D’ companies in firing lines each having an advanced post of about one platoon actually in the trenches, with the remainder scattered about the Village under cover of the remains of the houses. ‘A’ and ‘B’ Company in Battn. Reserve in farms about 300 yds west of Village; 3rd Batt: In trenches at E. Kemmel.

Horses for the War – I am still purchasing all kinds of sound horses. Heavy draught 15-3 and over, Light Draught 15 and over, Chargers 15 and over, Good Strong Cobs 14 -21/2 to 15. Anybody having any of the above to dispose of, kindly bring them to Mr Franklin’s Yard, Worcester at 10:30am, Tuesday, January 26th inst. Those having horses to sell who find it inconvenient to bring them to the above address please notify me my letter and I will make arrangements to call upon them, Arthur Jones, Purchasing Officer;

Decrease in Crime: If Worcester had been as fortunate as most boroughs and counties, they may have hoped for a perfectly clean sheet on this occasion. That had not yet happened, but it was a very slight matter. There had been 2 or 3 prisoners committed for not very serious offences, and, with ordinary good luck, they might have had none at all. It was wrong to infer that there was more crime in Worcester than in places of similar size which had come through this time with no calendar and white gloves. They knew that crime had decreased, not only before, but since war broke out. In various ways they might attribute the decrease to the War;

Worcestershire Prisoner’s Letter: In a postcard received from Sgt. Bill Sherwood (Worcs Regt), the well-known South Staffordshire boxer, who is a prisoner in Germany: “I don’t know when this lot is going to get finished, but I hope it is very soon. Give my best regards to all the boys. Hope they are going on all right. My wounds are better, and I am out of hospital after 10 weeks of having nothing to do. Never mind, it won’t last for ever.” Sgt Sherwood asks for cigarettes to be sent, stating that the prisoners will get them all right. He also says the prisoners are allowed to send two postcards a month;

Saved by the Worcesters: Bomb. Challender RFA, in a letter to his mother says: “The Germans shelled the town in which we are stationed, and they kept it up all night without a stop. I had a narrow escape from a German shrapnel shell on 29 October, otherwise I am quite happy and proud to be one of the lads from Oldbury. The Worcestershire Regiment saved our bacon, for they made a splendid bayonet charge through a village out here, and as a good many come from Oldbury, the town should be proud of them.”

Information researched by Sue Redding