Staffordshire Soldiers on the western front

[mjay]

On facebook a page Staffordshire Soldiers on the western front
Whoever is running this puts names, regiment nos and a blog on their service, where they come from etc etc
Lots of local folk and names we might be interested in for BCC
I can't copy n paste to show you cos i'm on ipad.
Oh an If your on Facebook and would like to add me or visa versa send me pm
Thanx
Mandy

[feral-underclass]

is it andrew thornton? he knows his stuff

[mjay]

It doesn't say
Is he on here too?

[feral-underclass]

It doesn't say
Is he on here too?

no he isn't on here he has published a number of articles on the net on staffordshire men. i aint on facebook , so i will have to be nice to the gaffer to have a look!

[mjay]

Update
Yes it's Andrew Thornton have chatted with him on Facebook x

[feral-underclass]

thanks mjay for the update

[mjay]

After speaking with Andrew he is happy for me to share his posts from his facebook page, with you all. I have finally manged to work out how to copy an entry from the above facebook page.

6851 Private Alfred John Mason

2nd Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment

Fred Mason was a reservist from the Caldmore district of Walsall in The South Staffordshire Regiment and was mobilised on the outbreak of the war. He had worked at the Oak Tanning Co. Ltd. in Walsall and left his wife and children, joining the 2nd Battalion at Aldershot. Writing to his work colleagues in Walsall, he described his experiences during the fighting around Ypres:

"We have just come in for a well-earned rest, after about a month in the trenches, a few yards from the Germans. I can say without fear of contradiction that our regiment has done some good work and more than held their own, although when we come to look round there are a lot of old faces missing, and I have God to thank I am not among them, as I thought my time had come on the 26th of October. On that day our regiment was ordered to advance under heavy artillery fire, and we went fairly well for about a mile, as they (the Germans) were well off the mark. Then came the time for a little excitement. We came to a wood separated from another by about 150 yards, and that space my company was ordered to charge, and, my God! I shall never forget it if I live to come through all right. As soon as we got into the open they started to fire on us from a Maxim gun on our right, which we never expected, killing four and wounding twenty. Had they ben any class they would have wiped us all out in a few seconds, but, thank God, they were rotten marksmen. I lay full length on the ground for what, it seemed to me a lifetime, till it went a bit quiet, and then I had to roll about twenty yards to get behind cover and there stop till dusk with a badly-wounded man. I said my prayers earnestly, asking God for deliverance, and I honestly think I was answered. I have done the same on many occasions, and I am not ashamed to own it, as I never troubled about God or anything else before the war."

Private Mason was killed in action during an attack on German trenches at Givenchy on 10 March 1915. He has no known grave and he is remembered on the Le Touret Memorial. His widow later remarried and, at the time that the register for the Le Touret Memorial was compiled, lived at 7 Rupert Street in Walsall

[mjay]

7614 Private Joseph Nicholls

2nd Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment

Joseph Nicholls came from Wombourne and was the son of William and Sarah Nicholls, who lived at Mill Lane in the village. He had originally joined the South Staffords at Lichfield in 1906. On his discharge, Nicholls found employment at the Express and Star newspaper in Wolverhampton. He was wounded during the fighting on the Somme in 1916 and died of his injuries at No. 1 Stationary Hospital at Rouen on 19 August 1916. He is buried at St Sever Cemetery: Plot B, Row 27, Grave 2. Joseph Nicholls is also commemorated on the war memorial in his home village of Wombourne and on the memorial plaque at the offices of the Express and Star to those employees of the newspaper who gave their lives during the Great War.