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Key dates over July 1918

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Lives lost on this day: 1

5th July 1918 - City Police Court

Rolling casualty count: 10209

War Front:

1st Batt: Batt in training at Onival. There was a Brigade Boxing Competition pm.

2nd Batt: Front line Coys and the Left support Coy relieved by the Glasgow Highlanders Coy, temporarily accommodated in the Communication Trenches in the Ravine with Brigade Support Batt, the 16th KRRC. 1 OR was wounded.

4th Batt: There were physical games from 9 to 9.45 am and then field training. There were Lewis gun, signalling and NCO classes.

Home Front:

The parade of mothers with babies, on Pitchcroft, which was so popular as part of the Baby Week celebrations last year, was repeated this year and took place on Thursday afternoon. It was not so well attended, either by mothers or babies, as a year ago, but it was a striking demonstration. There were over 200 mothers and babies present. The mothers wheeled their perambulators before the Mayor and Mayoress (Ald. and Mrs. Arthur Carlton), who had a few words to say to each. The Mayoress handed each mother a “souvenir,” a card on which were mottoes extolling the mission of the child. One was, “The race marches forward on the feet of the children.” There were illustrations of this truth during the afternoon. The Mayor, when speaking to the mothers, had to admit that he was unable to conceive any way of expressing his compliments to them. He had tried to get chocolate for the children, but had failed. But his little daughter said, “Why not give them all a ride on the roundabouts?” Thus does a civic dignitary get a lead from juvenility.

After the formal reception by the Mayor and Mayoress, Dr. Marion Andrews introduced to the Mayor mothers whom she said, wished to bring to his notice a few matters which needed attention. The first mother was Mrs. Llewellyn, who lives in Albert Road. She read a letter to the Mayor, in which she urged the need for periodical whitewashing and papering of rooms, saying that landlords excused themselves from doing it because they could not get labour. She said she had 12 children, one had fallen in battle, one was a prisoner in Germany and another was in France. The next mother, Mrs. Hubbard, of Diglis Road, read a letter, in which she said that she thought that “every working family should have a bathroom in their house. They are the people who do the dirty work and they need a bath more than the higher class.” The Mayor agreed also as to the need of baths, but he did not know if there was any legislation which enabled public authorities to put baths in houses, though he thought that landlords would find them a good investment. He hoped that in the near future a great many of the evils would be swept away. Directly the war was over the City Council were pledged to see that 1,000 small houses were built in Worcester.

City Police Court: Benjamin Bradley (51), 34, Silver Street, was charged with fishing with a rod and line for freshwater fish without a license. Charles Avery, Water Bailiff, said that he saw defendant fishing and he admitted that he had no license. He said he had been a bit slack. Defendant said that the day was Sunday and he went out on the spur of the moment and could not get a license. He was fined 5s.

Information researched by The Worcestershire World War 100 team