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“If you think, have a kindly thought, If you speak, speak generously, Of those who as heroes fought And died to keep you free”
Set up by the Black Country Society. Our aim is to highlight local men who died in the Great War and how they have been commemorated on war memorials. Its scope covers the whole of the present Dudley Municipal Borough and therefore includes the places which have come within its bounds since 1914.
There are over fifty memorials and the number of names exceeds three thousand. Research on the names has been extensive but inevitably errors and omissions occur. We would like to hear about them concentrated on life and work before 1914, involvement in military campaigns and where each man is buried or commemorated.
Bert Bissell was the son of John and Phoebe Bissell of 209 Bumble Hole, Windmill End, Netherton. He enlisted in the Worcesters and joined the 10th (Service) Battalion in the 19th Division. They took part in the 1916 Battle of the Somme from the first day of the 1st July when they were at La Boisselle. They were in the front line on the 3rd and helped to capture La Boisselle with great courage. Notably, Private Turrall was awarded the Divison's first Victoria Cross. They suffered heavily in the attacks on High Wood and were not involved again until November on the Ancre. The battlefield was a sea of mud and the target was Beaucourt. The main attack was on the 13th November and the objective was won at heavy cost. Private Bert Bissell was seriously wounded at some point and taken to the base hospital at Rouen, where he died of wounds. He was 19 years of age and is buried in St. Sever Cemetery (O III N 6) and commemorated on the Brierley Hill, Netherton and Brierley Hill church Memorials.
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Town Hall, Priory Street, Dudley
