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Key dates over December 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 31

Lives lost on this day: 1

25th December 1917 - Worcestershire Pigeon Shoots

Rolling casualty count: 8396

War Front:

1st Batt: Batt marched to Wizernes and entrained for St Jean at 6am.Men were visited at the Station by the Corps Commander. Batt detrained at St Jean and marched to billets. HQ and 2 Coys were in dugouts at Spree farm, 2 Coys in camp at California. Accommodation only fair. Snow fell heavily.

4th Batt: Divine Service for Christmas Day at 10.30am followed by Christmas Dinner supplemented from Batt funds with turkeys, pork, beef and fruit. The day passed successfully.

2/8th Batt: 2 other ranks joined Batt. Capt CW Holcroft was awarded the DSO. Acting Capt ES Mitchell, Lt HM Adams, 2nd Lts TW Hall and SS Jackson awarded the Military Cross. Sgt RW Elliot and Cpl FW King awarded the DCM.

Yeomanry/Cavalry: Christmas was spent near El Burj - not good as it was spent lying in puddles despite waterproof sheets. There was no chance of Christmas mail or rations arriving so only bully beef and biscuit soaked in rain-water for dinner. There was no church service but the men sang anyway.

Home Front:

Worcestershire Pigeon Shoots – Lord Deerhurst’s Organisation – A London paper says that Lord Deerhurst, on behalf of Worcestershire War Agricultural Committee, has appealed to landowners to co-operate in pigeon shoots once a week. It will be remembered that some weeks ago the Committee asked his lordship to undertake the organisation of such shoots.

Worcestershire And The War – An Appeal For Unity – “Wait here a few moments” said Mr John Kent at Worcester Cross on Saturday afternoon to a group of wounded soldiers, and I will try to say something to help you”. I haven’t come here to preach, but I believe that somewhere in the Prayer Book we are exhorted to pray for “unity, peace and concord”. Without unity he continued, you cannot attain victory and without victory you cannot have peace and without peace you cannot have concord. He had received, among many others, letters from fighting soldiers in France, asking how it was that, while they were all agreed “over there” to carry on with the fighting, we in this country did not seem to be united. Surely if the soldiers remained united, the least one would expect was that the civilians should be united also.

Information researched by The Worcestershire World War 100 team