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Key dates over June 1915

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Lives lost on this day: 0

24th June 1915 - Orphan - one of 5 brothers - killed at Front

Rolling casualty count: 1536

1st Batt: In Brigade Reserve billets along La Bassee road; 2nd Batt: The G.O.C. Bde visited the trenches. No casualties. During the night the enemy opened Machine Gun traversing fire all along our trench line at intervals of half an hour. Patrol of ‘D’ Coy sent out to front had to return earlier than intended on this account. Hammering and digging, and a band playing were heard in direction of German lines, also transport heard moving; 3rd Batt: In bivouac half mile due S. of Ypres; Royal Field Artillery: La Creche: The Brigade allotted to Group A consisting of 145th Inf. Brigade- 1st Fuls Coy RE- 1st Fuls Ambulance and No 4 coy Divl Train. The group marched to Bailleul area. 8.30pm The brigade marched independently and was billeted in the vicinity of Oultersteen, arriving 10pm.

With the 8th Battalion: A Malvern member of the 8th Battalion, now at the front, writes:- “We are having a very nice time here now, as a the weather is simply grand. As I was going to the baths the other day, I went by a field where there was hay–making, and it made me think of home. We had a trench blown up by German sappers the other day. Talk about rapid fire, maxims, and big guns all at once – it was deafening – but still we think nothing of that now;”

To the Editor: Dear Sir, - The second week in April a field was sown by Mr. John Lamb, Holywell Farm, Claines, with peas (viz., Sutton’s Bountiful), and finished picking today, a very heavy crop. Seed and a fertilizer were purchased from Mr. E.J. Parsons, and the peas were purchased by Mr. Frank Gardener, fruiterer, Newport Street. This is one of the quickest crops ever grown and would have been picked last week if rain had come. ‘GROWER’;

Death of Inspector Bray: Mr. Bray, the local Inspector of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, who has been ill for some weeks, died this morning. He was very energetic and painstaking in the performance of his duties, and will be remembered as being largely instrumental in the prosecution in the notorious cruelty case, which shocked not only Worcester, but the country at large, a few years’ ago;

Royal Orphanage Boy Killed: Mrs. Matthews, of 14, Lowesmoor Terrace, has been informed by Sergt. Cubberley, of the 3rd Worcestershires, of the death of her son, Pte. John Henry Matthews (23). He said that in the charge made by the 3rd Division, Pte. Matthews was hit on the head by a piece of shell, death being instantaneous. He added, “We were all very sorry to lose him. The whole of the day he helped wounded comrades to safety, and had their wounds dressed in danger of his own life.” Pte. Matthews and a brother (now in Canada) were old boys of the Royal Albert Orphanage, their mother being left a widow with seven young children. He was quite a smart little cricketer in the Orphanage team. ..Three of his brothers are still serving in the Army. They are Frank (with the Yeomanry at Worcester), Sidney (with the Queen’s Rifles at the front), and Reginald (with the 8th Worcesters at Worcester).

Information researched by Sue Redding