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Key dates over January 1916

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 31

Lives lost on this day: 2

1st January 1916 - Gales blast the county

Rolling Casualty Count: 2635

1st Batt: In billets at Hallobeau but some divisional working parties in the front line

2nd Batt: holding the trenches on both sides of La Bassee Canal.

3rd Batt: Still by Ploegsteert Wood in and out of the trenches..Tours in the trenches lengthened to 5/6 days as the sector is quiet.

10th Batt: In billets at La Croix Marmuse

11th Batt: Still building forward defences to hold Salonika. Weather fine and warm.

SMD RFA: At Bayencourt, . Germans shelled Sailly au Bois heavily and our Heavies replied.

On the Home Front:

Memorable Holiday Weather: In common with the rest of the country, Worcestershire experienced a gale of unusual violence on Monday. Mr. G. B. Weatherall, F.R.Met.S, of Severus Mount, Rainbow Hill supplied us with some interesting notes: “Yesterday’s storm developed into a south-west gale of exceptional violence. According to Beaufort’s Scale 10 is a whole gale wind blowing at 65 miles an hour. I Venture to place some of the gusts at 11, or 75 miles an hour. One of the most surprising features was the high temperature; the highest shade reading revealed a temperature of 67 deg., being the highest since September 23rd.”

One of the large elms at the top of Pitchcroft fell and killed two sheep belonging to Mr. E.F. Skyrme. Very considerable damage was done to Messrs. Webb’s horse-hair factory. The old houses in Copenhagen Street (which were awaiting demolition) were completely wrecked and the stone cross on the top of the Pump Street Wesleyan Chapel was blown down. Many wooden buildings in gardens were completely wrecked, iron railings were torn up, wooden fences were smashed, and quite a number of green-houses were damaged. It is estimated that something like two tons of masonry, from the Copenhagen Street entrance, were blown from St. Andrew’s Church.

Latest Casualty List: 34 Officers, 634 Men. Today’s list includes the names of 34 officers (8 dead), and 634 men (194 dead) the local regimental losses are: Worcestershires: Dead 5, wounded 1; Gloucestershires: Killed 4, wounded 7. Shropshires: Killed 1, wounded 1; Warwickshires: Died of wounds 1, wounded 4, suffering from shock 1. Reported December 21.

Two Runaways: When near the Swan Inn, Barbourne Road on Friday, P.C. Collet saw galloping from the direction of Ombersley road into the city a horse attached to a trap, with no-one in attendance. He ran alongside the animal for some distance, and managed to snatch a rein. The horse swerved across the road and stopped. Both of the trap shafts were broken, and the harness damaged. Subsequently the officer learnt that the horse had been driven by Mr. Tracey Wood, a farmer, of Ombersley, who was accompanied in the trap by Sgt. Miller and his wife. The horse took fright at a tram-car near St. Stephen’s Church, and threw the occupants out of the trap, but fortunately without injury. In stopping the animal, the constable had one of his ankles sprained.

A second runaway was in Broad Street. It was a horse attached to a trap driven by Ernest Williams, of 32, Tybridge Street. The animal was startled by a motor-car. The trap collided with a tricycle, ridden by Francis Allen, of Barbourne. The machine was broken and its rider thrown to the ground with his milk-cans, which he carried on the tricycle. He was not hurt, but as he was shaken he was taken home in a cab.

General’s Lost Teeth: In the retreat from Mons a “distinguished general now commanding an army in France,” says the British Dental Journal, thought to snatch a few hours in bed in a peasant’s cottage. He left his artificial teeth on the washstand. At night he was aroused with the news that the enemy was near and hurriedly left, forgetting his teeth. After subsisting on light foods for a fortnight the battle of the Marne brought the general back to the village. Although only the four walls of the cottage were left one of the general’s A.D.C’s and three soldiers explored the wreckage. Under a lot of chicken bones and champagne bottles they found the teeth intact. The general then had ‘a square meal.’

Information researched by the WWW100 team.