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Key dates over November 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

Lives lost on this day: 7

6th November 1916 - Requiem mass at St George's for Catholic servicemen

Rolling casualty count: 4860

1st Batt: batt moved to Guillemont to relieve the 2nd Worcs.

2nd Batt: Batt went to Guillemont and rested in shelters during the am, then moved to camp in a muddy field in the Citadel near Fricourt.

4th Batt: Weather dry and fine but cold. Batt inspected by COC 88th Brigade including transport and Lewis gun carts.

10th Batt: The men's` feet were rubbed with whale-oil.

SMD RFA: Brigade fired an intense Barrage during the night to assist a raid by 31st Division under the command of Lt Col Colville DSO for this operation.

Home Front:

Mrs. F.C. Shackells, of 13, North Street, has received official news that her husband, Pte. Frederick Shackells, was killed in action on Sept. 22nd in France. Before going to France he saw active service in the Dardanelles, being invalided home with fever. He went back to his Regiment and was sent out to France. He had only been in France for five weeks when he was killed. He joined in November, 1914. He formerly worked at Dent Allcrofts for 22 years, and would have been 41 years of age next year. He leaves a wife and four children.

Requiem Mass: At St. George’s Catholic Church – as at every church in Great Britain – Requiem Mass was celebrated for the souls of the Catholic soldiers and sailors who had fallen in the war. A catafalque covered with a Union Jack had been placed outside the chancel rails. On it were a helmet, belt and sword, and also a laurel wreath...At the conclusion the Organist (Mr. H.H. Burgess) played the “Dead March,” the congregation standing. The Rev. Father Blount preached, and after a reference to the work of the soldiers and sailors during the war, made an appeal for prayers for those who had fallen.

Mr. Iliffe’s Brother Drowned: After the shipping disaster off the Irish coast, Mr. Iliffe, photographer, of the Tything, received a telegram which announced that his brother, Sergt. Major W. Iliffe, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, was among the soldiers drowned. His body was one of the first to be recovered at Kilkeel…He was 49 years old and an Irish Freemason.

Blown up to Prevent Capture: Amsterdam, Monday: According to a Berlin official telegram, on Saturday evening the submarine U 20 ran ashore north of Berbjerg, off the coast of West Jutland, in a fog. Torpedo boats, which at once rushed to its assistance, were unable to tow it off. The U 20 was therefore blown up at noon, yesterday, after the crew had been rescued by torpedo boats.- Press Association.

British Steamer’s Escape from Submarine: Madrid, Monday: The British steamer Glengyle has arrived at Valentia slightly damaged after a successful escape from a German submarine. It is stated that the Glengyle maintained a running fight before a large German submarine, which had to abandon the chase, and eventually made off in a southerly direction. – Central News.

The death is announced in very pathetic and remarkable circumstances of Mrs. Andrews, wife of Mr. Walter Andrews, who carries on business as a butcher at 11, Shambles. She was the mother of Trooper Robert Andrews, of the Worcestershire Yeomanry, who was taken prisoner at Qatia at Easter, and who died in August. She is the mother of two other fighting soldiers, Arthur went to France with a Canadian contingent, and Foley of the 6th Dragoons, has been a soldier for several years. A fourth son is in the Worcester Volunteer Corps, and of a daughter who is in the Worcester Women’s Volunteer Reserve. Her maternal anxiety for the three fighting sons was very deep, and in her grief at the news of the death of Trooper Robert she remained inconsolable. To illustrate how deeply grief-stricken she was, it may be said that since the receipt a month ago of the news of his death she had not had a night’s good sleep.

A meeting of the Worcestershire Joint Standing Committee was held on Saturday. A letter was received from the Local Government Board stating that recent enquiries had revealed a certain amount of arsenic in baking powder. They pointed out that there might have been a somewhat wide distribution of contaminated material, and asked the Committee to take the necessary steps. The Chairman said he directed the police to take a large number of samples, and they had taken 88, some 40 of which had bene examined by the Acting County Analyst. In three of these an excessive amount of arsenic had been found- in one case as much as 1-5th of a grain, which, he was told, would “do” for a man. Three out of 40 was an uncomfortable number. He did not think the retailers were in any way liable, and all he could say was that the less of this stuff that was used, the better. The makers used to get the material from abroad, and in consequence of the war, it was now being made in this country. A preparation was being made which in some way left a residue of arsenic…Mr. Wilson said these things were not eaten whole, but were diluted very largely, and the quantity of arsenic used in baking powder was not enough to do anyone harm. Sir. G. Hingley: The Chairman has just old you that in one case there was enough to kill a man. Mr. Wheeler: Yes, if you ate the powder. No action was taken.

Refuse Tip at Diglis: The Committee reported that they have for some time past been considering the question of providing a refuse tip at Diglis, and at a meeting Mr. Ward stated that he thought the Severn Commissioners would allow the fields between the Diglis Docks and the old Chemical Works to be used as a tip. The Severn Commissioners let the land to the Sharpness New Docks Company under an agreement which could not be determined except by 12 months’ notice expiring at Christmas, and asked to know before they communicated with the Docks Company if the Council would pay a rent of £5 per annum per acre for the time any land was required by them, and enter into a formal agreement on terms.The Engineer estimated the cost of erecting a fence for two acres of the land at £15, and £15 more if the fence was erected round the whole of the land. The Committee recommended the Council to accept the terms as to the use of the Severn Commissioners’ Fields at Diglis as a refuse tip.

Information researched by The Worcestershire World War 100 team