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Key dates over January 1918

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

12th January 1918 - Meat shortage across Worcester

Rolling casualty count: 8457

War Front:

1st Batt: Batt billeted in Brake camp in snowy, very cold weather. 7 officers and 1 OR joined the Batt.

3rd Batt: batt relieved by 9th Loyal North Lancs and moved back to Brigade support. Batt detailed to do special patrol work while in support. A and C Coys doing this with the objective of capturing a prisoner.

4th Batt: CO went off early for a course with the RFC. Coys lectured in billets on the organization of shell holes and trench warfare.

2/7th Batt: There was more Coy training. 2Lt WN Twist commenced duties as Section Area Commander, B area.

10th Batt: Working to improve the posts. Trenches now waterlogged.

Yeomanry/Cavalry: Major WH Wiggin was appointed to command of the Sherwood rangers and Major HC Maydon, 12th Lancers, became 2nd in Command.

Home Front:

The food position in Worcester today appears to be similar to that of last Saturday. There is a shortage of meat, margarine, and bacon. Dealing first with meat, it may be remarked that the butchers’ shops have remained open only a comparative few hours this week. Practically no meat was sold till Thursday, and then the shops closed in the afternoon. On Friday only a few were opened for chance customers. In the Shambles, where about a dozen butchers’ shops are situated, orders were given first consideration, and most of the irregular customers ( in normal time would have secured meat from whichever butcher took their fancy) were in most cases disappointed…From 7am this morning, a queue which had collected outside the Maypole Dairy shop continued to be lengthened by fresh arrivals until it reached as far as the Theatre in Angel Street. The shop opened at 8am and margarine, which had been made up into pound packets, was served with clockwork-like regularity to between 3,000 and 4,000 customers, the stock consisting of considerably over a ton. The whole supplies were exhausted by 10am, and about 200 people were turned away. Outside Sallis’s provision shop there was also a large queue waiting for bacon, and the supplies were quickly exhausted.

Worcester Men Drunk at Malvern: At Malvern Police Court this morning, William Frederick Band, marine, store dealer, of 40, Newport Street, Worcester, and William Bozward, fish and fruit salesman, of White House, The Butts, Worcester were charged with being drunk in Church Street. They pleaded guilty. At 11 o’clock on Friday night P.C. Clarke found the two prisoners lying on the foopath opposite the Council Offices. They were helplessly drunk, and when they managed to get on their knees they fell down again…It was stated that Bozward had £624 14s. 3½d in his possession, consisting of £122 10s. in gold, £2 7s. 10 ½d in silver and coppers, £61 10s. in Treasury notes, ten £10 notes, three £5 notes, and nine cheques to the value of £323 6s. 5d. Bozward said he was taking this money to Birmingham to pay some bills. Band, asked to account for his condition, said it was dark. The Magistrate: You don’t lose the use of your limbs because it is dark. Each man was fined 10s., or seven days.

Information researched by The Worcestershire World War 100 team