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Key dates over March 1916

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Lives lost on this day: 7

31st March 1916 - Lieut. C.E. Sladden of Badsey gazetted captain

Rolling Casualty Count: 2837

At the Front:

2nd Batt: Classes continued all morning. Drums beat the Retreat at the Grande Place, Bethune at 5.30pm.

3rd Batt: Batt inspected by C in Chief on a Route march.

8th Batt: Batt fighting strength is 33 Officers, 836 men including 32 in the Field Artillery and 32 in the extra Regt employ.

Yeomanry/Cavalry: The whole Brigade is now East of the Canal. Each Regiment is covering the whole of the Qatia water area with its patrols. Turks are moving important forces towards the area so regimental patrols are more in contact with enemy patrols.

SMD RFA: New Battery affected by transfer of men. Germans shelled Fonquevillers heavily.

On the Home Front:

The Blizzard: Damage at Whittington: Whittington felt the full force of the blizzard on Monday night, and the damage in the district was great. From the Red Hill corner to near the Swan Inn not one telegraph post was left standing, and in their fall, the posts broke the water main in several places, leaving many of the houses without their usual supply. The genial village postman (Tom Middleton) was the victim of a nasty accident due to the state of the roads on Tuesday morning. Owing to an accumulation of snow and slush on his machine, he was rather heavily thrown from it, and sustained a severe shaking with (it is feared) internal injuries.

Petroleum Storage: The Halford Cycle Co., Ltd., Broad Street, were summoned for keeping petroleum in Broad Street without a license. The defendant’s manager pleaded guilty, but said that he had applied for a license at the Guildhall three time, but it was not ready. The Town Clerk said he did not want the defendants to be at any disadvantage and asked the Bench to treat the case as if they had the license which they applied for - 150lbs - and to regard only the excess. The defendants had 320lbs of carbide calcium on the premises, regarded as petroleum for the purposes of the Act, but being more dangerous than petroleum. Instead of keeping the containers locked they were hopelessly careless in the way they stored it. The Bench imposed a fine of £5.

The Light that Failed: Several defendants who, according to the police evidence, failed to shade properly their lights, were summoned under the recent Order. The first defendant was William George Day, one of the City Magistrates, 9, Foregate Street. It transpired that a light in a top room was put on in the daytime and accidentally left on , and it was discovered later by P.C. Greaves. The Chairman asked how it was that Mr. Day was summoned, and the Chief Constable said that it was because he wanted to be. He would have summoned the person who left the light on but no one knew who did so, and Mr. Day agreed that he should be summoned. Fined 20s.

Lieut. C.E. Sladden, 9th Worcs., son of Mr. and Mr.s Julius Sladden, of Badsey, has been gazetted Captain. After being wounded at the battle of Anzac, Lieut. Sladden returned from Gallipoli , and assisted in the evacuation from Suvla, and also in the subsequent retirement from Helles. It is no secret now that it was not expected that these evacuations would be effected without serious losses, and the fact that there were practically no casualties is one of the most surprising incidents of the war. Those who took part in the evacuation of Helles, as well as Suvla, will have something to remember for the remainder of their lives.

Harvington Man Wounded: A report from the War Office has reached Mr. and Mrs. Tyler, Council Cottages, Harvington, that their son, A.J.Tyler, has been wounded in the face, and was admitted into the Canadian General Hospital at Etaples. He is a gunner in the 71st Trench Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery, and volunteered last September.

Record Salmon Catch: On Thursday, at the Holt Fleet private draught, four fine salmon were landed at the first sweep, averaging over 10lbs. This catch is believed to be a record.

Information researched by the WWW100 team