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Key dates over September 1914

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Lives lost on this day: 16

14th September 1914 - General Helmuth von Moltke replaced in command of the German armies in France and Belgium by General Erich von Falkenhayn

The following men of 2nd Battalion were killed: Pte. Walter Akast 9427; Pte. Herbert Edward Arkell 9048; Pte. Albert Bolton 7729; Pte. Percy Allen Bourne 9890; Pte. Henry George Bowcott 7680; Pte. David Dale 8688; Pte. John Firth 8117; Pte. Austin Gammon 13358; Pte. Oliver Gray 9790; Pte.Charles James Leonard 8805; L/Cpl. Jim Paxton 7673; Pte. Thomas Slimm 8729; Pte. Thomas Smith 7576; Pte. George Tovey 13316; Sgt. Herbert Westwick 5236; Pte. Thomas William Leonard Wright 13064.

2nd Batt: Heavily shelled, suffered many casualties.56 wounded. Ordered to advance under cover of darkness. 4 transport horses killed by a shell;

3rd Batt: North of Chateau Chassemy for some hours. Heavily shelled at times, casualties in road.

The Worcester War Relief: £2900 including £2 from the staff of the Star Hotel;

This morning there were 1528 men at Norton Barracks of whom 116 left later in the day for Plymouth;

A course of instruction in First Aid and Ambulance work for men wishing to join the Voluntary Aid Detachment would be delivered in the Shirehall on Monday evenings at 9pm;

Worcester Privates' narrow escapes: Pte. Joseph Sibley (3rd Batt) fought for 5 days at Mons, for 2 of those days with a bullet wound in his foot: "I expect I fired a couple of thousand rounds...before the bounders put me out of mess with a third shot in the leg", previously a bullet had passed through the rim of his cap as he was in the trenches firing. Sibley reported that a bullet had struck the kit of Cpl. Thomson (3rd) who "... gave a grunt and thought he was done for, but when the bullet ratteled inside the canteen, he just laughed and blessed his luck"!

A French Good Samaritan - An interesting war incident is told by one of the Worcesters who was in the thick of the fight at Mons, but is now practically recovered from his wounds. He was struck by a piece of shrapnel and rendered unconscious. A French cavalry man found him, and carried him 10 miles to a Red Cross van, and when they parted the Frenchman took a chain off his neck and gave it to the British soldier as a keepsake