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Key dates over June 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

Lives lost on this day: 1

23rd June 1918 - Ex-soldier jailed for illegally wearing a uniform and obtaining £10 by false pretences

Rolling casualty count: 10166

War Front:

1st Batt: Batt billeted at Dargnies where training continued with drill under the Section Commander. Batt was re-organised.

2nd Batt: Working party of 5 platoons was found.

3rd Batt: Transport was sent to the Base and the transport of the 10th Worcs took over.

4th Batt: Brigade Divine service held on the Parade ground in camp.

1/7th Batt: Batt moved to Serona.

1/8th Batt: Batt returned to Serona.

Home Front:

Mr. and Mrs. Rowberry, of 68, Northfield Street, were informed some time back that their son, Pte. A. Rowberry, of the Worcs. Regt., was reported missing between 21st and 31st March. On Tuesday evening they received a letter from him saying that he is a prisoner at Stendal, in Germany, adding: “I’m all right and may be able to write in two or three weeks, so cheer up.” Before the war Pte. Rowberry (240170) was engaged at Messrs’ Townshend’s mill at Diglis. He was in the Territorials and went abroad with his battalion, to which he has belonged for five years.

In the uniform of a flying officer, an ex-soldier named Arthur Edward Bourne called on a tradesman, who cashed a cheque for him when he said that he had just made a flight from France, and was returning in an hour. It was afterwards discovered that Bourne had no account, and on Tuesday at Liverpool he was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment on each of the two charges – illegally wearing a uniform and obtaining £10 by false pretences. Bourne, the son of a well-known Worcestershire tradesman, joined the Army early in the war. He received a blow on the head from the butt of a rifle, and in 1915 obtained his discharge…Medical evidence was given that Bourne was “mentally unstable but not insane.”

The “Evesham Standard” says: - Growers were no by no means pleased with the Order published on Saturday restricting the price of strawberries, raspberries, black currants, and red currants. Many had had a wonderful strawberry week, for with even moderate crops strawberries at from 10d. to 1s. 6d. per ib. had brought in heavy returns. Some had good crops of early strawberries, and at the unusual prices it was said they were making over £200 per acre. The sudden drop from an average of over a shilling a pound to 41/4 d. was naturally not appreciated.

Information researched by The Worcestershire World War 100 team