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Key dates over January 1917

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Lives lost on this day: 3

29th January 1917 - Thin ice on parts of the river and canal are treacherous

Rolling casualty count: 5372

War Front: 2nd Batt: Two parties of 100 and 90 men were sent up to Middle Dump am One party collected fire-wood. A very frosty day and quiet.

4th Batt: No sign of a thaw. Batt moved to Guillemont Quarries. Z Coy supplied 50 men for carrying and the remainder stayed at Carnoy.

10th batt: A water guard of 1 NCO and 9 men was found. Others cleaning up the Lines and camp after taking them over in a filthy condition.

Home Front: The temperature as registered at the Worcester Waterworks was not so low as elsewhere. On Sunday morning and this morning the thermometer registered 25deg., the lowest point reached during the recent cold spell. The cold has been felt severely because of the keen north-east and east winds which have prevailed during the last ten days. Since the 19th the wind has been in the north-east until Sunday, when it was in the east. There is ice on the river in parts, but at present the traffic has not been impeded, and the ice-boat has not been up as far as Worcester. The canal is frozen over for a considerable length, and ponds in the district are frozen. On one or two of these there has been sliding and skating, but the stretches of water at Perdiswell and Camp are not frozen (so we are informed) hard enough to permit skating.

At the Midland Hotel, Shrub Hill, on Saturday, Mr. Corfield, Depot Master, on behalf of the various members of the G.W.R. Traffic Staff, presented ex-Inspector C. Wilde with a handsome writing case and silver-mounted umbrella, suitably inscribed, on the occasion of his retirement after over 30 years in the Company’s service. Mr. Corfield, who had been associated with Mr. Wilde for the past seven years, said he had always found him a most conscientious worker. Though wild by name, he was gentle by nature, and he held him in high esteem.

Skating Accident: Tom Payne, jun., George Street, Worcester, this afternoon saved a boy from drowning in the Canal. The boy was sliding on the ice, when it cracked, and he fell through.

Information researched by The Worcestershire World War 100 team