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Key dates over April 1916

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Lives lost on this day: 92

23rd April 1916 - Oghratina and Qatia fall with huge losses

Rolling Casualty Count: 3051

1st Batt: Easter Sunday. The sergeant of the 2nd Batt came over from Bethune to play football, match won by our sergeants 1-0. Weather fine and warm.

2nd Batt: Church Parade in am. In pm all officers and NCOs reconnoitred the Le Touray line from the Canal to Le Preol.

4th Batt: Fine day at last. Work continued bailing out water from the trenches and the mud. Lt and Adj C Felix leaves for the 4th Army School on Instruction at Florencourt. At 11pm Batt relieved by the Hampshire Reg and moved to billets at Englebelmen. Gen Sealey , the late Secretary of War, visited the line.

9th Batt: The food supply at Kut Garrison is exhausted but British aeroplanes have been dropping bags of provisions into town but it is not enough.

Yeomanry/Cavalry: Easter Sunday was foggy. Mageibra surrounded at 6am but found to be deserted except for 6 men on guard. These were made prisoners and the camp was destroyed. Later Oghratina fell with huge losses and the remains of 2 squadrons were made prisoners. The Turkish forces were 3000 strong with a machine gun Coy of 12 guns. Turks went on to attack Qatia and Romani and Qatia fell at 3.30pm

C Squadron was under Col Coventry. Major Wiggin was wounded . A machine gun was buried by Private JC Ratcliffe and recovered intact some months later. Regiment lost 9 officers and 87 NCOs and men.

SMD RFA: Enemy shelled us in neighbourhood of 1st Worcs Reg. Two emplacements were hit and 1 gun was damaged and had to be taken to IOMS workshop. There were 3 casualties.

On the Home Front:

Father and Five Sons Serving - Mr G Stone, late of Bromsgrove, who served 15 years in the Somerset Light Infantry and Worcestershire Hussars and well known in his day as an expert rifle shot, is now in spite of his 60 odd years, doing special duty in Birmingham and his five sons are all in the army. The best known locally is Sergeant-Major F Stone, 2nd Worcestershires. Pte A.G. Stone, 1st Worcestershires, Private C.H. Stone, 3rd Dorsets, late of the Worcester Yeomanry.

Local Jottings – The departure from Shrub Hill Station of about one-half of the second line Brigade of Worcestershire Artillery was witnessed on Sunday afternoon by a large concourse of relatives and friends. Soldiers who had been on leave at Malvern, Stourbridge, Kidderminster and Redditch, assembled at Worcester, where a special train for them and the locals was speedily filled by 250 men in khaki. The fact that this was the final parting with them before they go abroad lent additional interest to the occasion and although the men appeared in good spirits and with a hearty cheer, many an eye was dimmed amongst those left on the platform.

Information researched by the WWW100 team.