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Key dates over September 1918

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Lives lost on this day: 21

25th September 1918 - Stonehenge Given to the Nation

Rolling casualty count: 10718

War Front:

2nd Batt: Visibility was good and there was much aerial activity. An attempt was made to retake the cross-roads but it was not successful. Lt HG Hill was wounded

3rd Batt: At 3am the Batt relieved the 8th Glos in the right sub sector prior to attacking Shepherd`s Redoubt and the Distillery.

At 8am A and B Coys attacked and both objectives were captured. About 80 prisoners and 10 machine guns were also captured and casualties were light.

At 6pm a very heavy enemy barrage was put down just behind our front line and the enemy attempted a counter attack but they were scattered by our rifle fire. Our Line was held intact.

4th Batt: A heavy raid began at 4am lasting until 10 am. A daylight patrol was sent out early to a pill box where they saw signs of enemy occupation. A revolver was fired into the pillbox and the enemy fired back. The Patrol fired again and 6 enemy soldiers came out and were taken prisoner. Later 9 more soldiers surrendered and a machine gun was captured. The soldiers belonged to the 28th Bavarian reg.

14th Batt: C Coy worked on the aerodrome at Vroucourt. I OR was wounded but remained on duty.

Yeomanry/Cavalry: The Reg bivouacked 300 feet below sea-level and it was not restful with 4000 prisoners and dead bodies everywhere. The Turks had been poorly clothed and fed but German wagons were found to be laden with luxury food, mosquito nets etc. Rations and more troops were sent for and prisoners were set to work to bring food from the abandoned wagons.

Home Front:

To the Editor: Dear Sir, - Such a strike at the present time means, not only interfering with the supplies to the soldiers and sailors so nobly doing their duty at the front, but also trying to starve their wives and children at home by stopping the food trains to Worcester. May I suggest that the time has come for the tradespeople to step in and do their bit by ignoring the ration cards of all men on strike. I feel sure the authorities would not inflict any punishment for such an antidote, and in the meantime the Government should be asked to cancel such cards until the men return to work. I further suggest that all licensed victuallers who disapprove of such action refuse to serve them until they return to work. The Co-operative members may also ask themselves the question if it reflects to their credit to allow them to hold their meetings in their hall. Live and Let Live.

Stonehenge Given to the Nation: Stonehenge, the historic heap of stones on Salisbury Plain, is to become the property of the nation. It has been offered to Sir Alfred Mond, the First Commissioner of Works, by Mr. C.H.E. Chubb, of Bemerton Lodge, Salisbury, who bought it for £6,600 three years ago, and the offer has been accepted by the Government. Mr. Chubb would like the admission fees, which are about £360 a year, to be given to the Red Cross Society while the war lasts, and this has been arranged by the Treasury. Stonehenge is the most famous pre-historic monument in the world. It is a circular group of huge stones, of which several have fallen or destroyed in historic times. The probable date is between 2000 and 1000 BC, or even earlier. It may have been a temple for the worship of the sun or for the honour of the great dead- an ancient British Westminster Abbey. When some of the immense stones which had fallen were raised in 1901 a number of stone tools and bones were found.

Fine Deeds by Local Officers: (D.S.O.); Capt. H.G.W. Wood, Worc. Regt.: During an enemy attack, though originally detailed as a support company, he saw that the company he was supporting was held up, and immediately went forward and delivered three organised attacks on the enemy, leading his men with the greatest gallantry. He harnessed the enemy continuously during the night, and when the successful advance took place early next morning he cleared a large portion of the front line and consolidated quickly. His company captured 100 prisoners and six machine-guns;

(Bar to M.C.): Lt. (A.-Capt.) T.G. Parkes, M.C., Worc. Regt.: When battalion headquarters were surprised by the advancing enemy his quickness and good shooting were of great assistance. From then onwards he fought a consistently good rear guard action, collecting stragglers wherever he could, and collecting food and ammunition for his men. He set a fine example of cheerfulness and determination to his men.

(M.C.): Rev. T.C. de la Hey, A. Chapl.Dept.: This officer accompanied two companies to a critical position on the flank and stayed with them a week. He was constantly in the front line, helping wherever he could, and burying all those killed in the area. He was of great use to the medical officer, and his cheerfulness and example were an encouragement to all ranks. He is well-known as a Minor Canon of the Cathedral. It was announced in June that the Rev. T.C. de la Hey had been awarded the M.C. This is the first time that the deed for which he received it has been published.

Railway Strike: Seen this afternoon, Mr. Tidbald, the Secretary of the local Branch of the Associated Society of Locomotive Enginemen and Firemen, said that they were not to be intimidated or coerced, and he denied that Mr. Thomas’s statement applied to them, their Society being not the N.U.R. but the A.S.L.E. and F. On the other hand, a member of the local Strike Committee, which shown the statement of Mr. Thomas that, “the men will resume work tomorrow,” said: “I feel inclined to start tonight, I am fed up with having nothing official.” He added, in reply to a question, that three or four Worcestershire men had already returned to work. Another striker said that as this was an unofficial strike they could not expect official orders.

The Dean of Worcester, being invited to express his views on the strike, observed: “This strike is more than a national calamity – it is a world calamity. I am grieved that some of the railwaymen, for whom one has the greatest regard and respect and area as a rule as reasonable as, if not more reasonable, than any class of workers, should act as some of them are doing. Yet now they imperil all by sudden and arbitrary action, for if we do not supply the French and Italians with coal, and maintain the supply of munitions to our own men who are suffering and dying for us, they cannot continue the war successfully. And this at a time when after four years the tide has turned in our favour in all the fields of war. The news of what is taking place in England will have a very discouraging effect on the men at the front, and put fresh heart into the Germans just at the very time when they are losing heart, and consequently fighting with diminished vigour.”

Mr. S. Donkin, farmer, of Naunton Beauchamp, Pershore, who sustained a fracture of the skull as a result of the accident in Worcester last Friday, succumbed to his injuries at the Infirmary this morning. He was returning to Worcester from a farm sale at Hawford in the side-car of a motor-cycle driven by Mr. Austin Sargeant, butcher, the Shambles. When coming along the Tything the cycle skidded, and the side-car smashed into an iron post outside Messrs. McNaught’s shop.

Information researched by The Worcestershire World War 100 team