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Key dates over February 1917

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Lives lost on this day: 8

6th February 1917 - Cyclist knocked over by soldiers' car

Rolling casualty count: 5418

War Front: 2nd Batt: Batt supplied heavy working parties. A Coy on left front in very bad shelters on the hill, B Coy in the right front Man trench in good dug=outs, C Coy had 2 platoons in Quarry trench and 2 behind in Man Trench and D Coy was in Reserve Position.

3rd Batt: Batt relieved by the 10th Cheshires and went to Brigade reserve at Regina Camp.

4th Batt: At night the carrying parties were held up by enemy fire.

10th Batt: batt cleaning up. They were allotted the baths but there was no water.

SMD RFA: Brigade HQ moved to Cappy on the Divisional Artillery being formed into 2 groups

Yeomanry/Cavalry: The Regiment left El Arish and moved half way to Sheikh Zowaid to a pleasant camp at El Burj with tamarisk trees in the sand hills.

Home Front: Worcester Motor Driver Fined – Running Down a Cyclist – At the County Petty Sessions, Charles Hawkins, garage proprietor, was charged with driving a motor car to the danger of the public. It was a curious case, inasmuch as an accident occurred, in which a man, Albert Caswell, was injured and his cycle smashed. A witness said that he was cycling home from Malvern, when a car passed him, going at the rate of about 30 miles an hour. There were some soldiers in the car. Later he saw the same car being driven towards Malvern. Albert Caswell who appeared in court on crutches said that he had cycled into Worcester and when returning home, he met a motor car, the driver of which he did not recognise, coming along the road on the wrong side at a rapid pace. When within five or six yards, the car turned across the road and not him off his machine. The occupants of the car picked him up and took him to Malvern Hospital, where it was found his leg was fractured. There were some soldiers in the car, one of whom was drunk. It was a brilliant moonlit night.

Worcestershire and the War – A Memorial Shrine – An interesting presentation took place at the Golden Lion, High Street. Pte Douglas Smith, the son of the host, Mr T Smith, was killed in action in July last year. The sympathy of friends prompted a tangible expression in the presentation to Mr Smith of a handsome memorial shrine. It is a handsome piece of work, well carried out in bronze and framed in oak. In the centre an excellent photograph of Pte Smith. The memorial is now hung in the bar.

Information researched by The Worcestershire World War 100 team