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Key dates over September 1917

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: 5

4th September 1917 - Widow’s Sacrifices

Rolling casualty count: 7468

War Front:

1st Batt: Batt in Brigade Reserve at Romarin Camp, training and finding working parties at night. 1 officer joined Batt.

2nd Batt: C and D Coys bathed at Eperlecques am and B and C bathed pm.

4th Batt: Batt paraded and waited with extreme patience for the arrival of GOC 88th Brigade. Capt Stacke was awarded the Military Cross.

2/7th Batt: More training. Camp visited by COC 61st Division.

10th Batt: Batt repeated the attacking over shell holes

Home Front:

The Housing Question: At today’s meeting of the City Council, the Town Clerk read a communication from the Local Government Board asking for information as to the provision of houses for working classes in the city at the conclusion of the war. Mr. Southall said that he had been able to answer questions relating to the number of houses existing or being built, but there were certain questions of policy, which the Council or some Committee ought to answer. One of these questions was whether sites for additional houses could be secured by the Council by agreement at a reasonable price and, if not, what were the special difficulties. Mr. Williams said the previous housing work had been mainly that of condemning houses. He thought it would be much more sensible if they could do something to assist the working classes to obtain suitable houses before they condemned the old ones. Ald. Leicester, in reply, said that for every house which they had destroyed they improved at least eight others. As a matter of fact they found that there were four houses void for every one which was condemned.

Mrs. Osbourne, of 22, Lowell Street, Arboretum, has been informed that her husband, Pte. H.T. Osborne, Worcestershire Regiment (T.F.) has been dangerously wounded. A Chaplain writes to her from a casualty clearing station: “I am sorry to tell you that your husband has been seriously wounded in the head, right arm and thigh and has been admitted to this hospital. He is in good hands and is being attended by skilled surgeons and nurses, who will do all they possibly can to assist his recovery. He sends his love to you and Doris and says that you are not to worry about him because he is getting on all right. Though we have great hopes of his ultimate recovery, I think you ought to know that at present he is very seriously ill.” Pte. Osborne has been in the Army for three years, two years and three months of which he has been in France. He was gassed in July, 1916. Previous to enlisting he was an iron moulder at Messrs. McKenzie and Holland’s.

City Police Court: No Lights – James Blade (14), 33, Pheasant Street, was fined 2s. 6d. for driving a horse and cart without lights. P.C. Godsman said that the defendant had no lamps on the cart. Defendant explained that he thought he would be back before lighting-up time.

City Council: The Health Committee had recommended that, in order to enable the Infirmary Committee to re-open the ward recently closed, the Council should make a grant of £400 to the Infirmary. Dr. Walpole Simmons, Chairman of the Committee, said that he was against the resolution and he asked Mr. Fairbairn, as the mover in the Committee, to move it. Mr. Fairbairn spoke of the great need of the Institution and said that the Council already paid about £200 a year to the Infirmary for special cases. General sympathy with the Infirmary’s work was expressed, but there was considerable opposition on the ground that the grant might really not help the Institution, because of the possibility that subscribers might withdraw their subscriptions if the Institution was rate aided. Eventually the matter was sent back to the Health Committee.

City Council: Mr. Fairburn referred to the proposal to acquire 1,000 tons of coal for the city and said that an attempt was being made to bluff the city to accept 500 tons of steam coal instead of house coal. The Town Clerk stated that he had received intimation that 500 tons had been allocated, but this quantity would be deducted from the amount supplied to merchants. It was resolved that he should send a strongly worded resolution to the Coal Controller, stating that the City desired the 1,000 tons to be in addition to the amount supplied to merchants.

Widow’s Sacrifices: Mrs. Bailey, of Longton, Staffordshire, has given seven of her nine sons to the war, the remaining two being ineligible. Her sons William and Tom have been killed in action and Samuel and George are lying in military hospitals with wounds. The other three – Joseph, Harry and Edward – are now on active service. An Army Chaplain tells of an Australian widow whose six sons enlisted. Five are buried on the battlefields of France and recently the sixth was lying in the military hospital at Netley badly wounded. The mother has died of grief.

Droitwich Fatality: On Sunday morning last, at about a quarter to 10, Julie Isereptant, aged two years, one of a family of Belgian refugees, was killed on the railway at Impney Crossing. Thomas Jones, the driver of the Midland passenger train leaving Birmingham at 8.30 am, stated that as he approached the crossing the child ran out of a gate right in front of the engine which struck her in the side. Dr. Roden was sent for, but the child must have been killed instantly. P.C. Garrard removed the body to the mortuary. An inquest will be held on Wednesday.

Information researched by The Worcestershire World War 100 team