HITCHINGS, Albert

Albert Hitchings was the son of Mr J.P. Hitchings of Holly Lodge, Wollaston, a director of Messrs Edward Webb & Sons (Stourbridge) Ltd. He was educated at Stourbridge Grammar School from 1903 to 1910 where he gained prizes for athletics. He then attended Technical School, where he gained the student's certificate for the Institute of Surveyors. In 1914 he was an articled pupil for a well known firm of London architects. He volunteered in Birmingham in 1914 for the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He was one of the original members of the 15th (2nd Birmingham City) Battalion and was in No. 13 Platoon of D Company. He was soon promoted to Corporal. The battalion crossed to France in November 1915 and was sent to the front line near Arras. They then moved to the Somme in mid-July 1916 for the second phase of the Battle of the Somme. The battalion was engaged in a major attack on High Wood on the 23rd July and suffered heavy casualties. One of these was Corporal Albert Hitchings who was killed in action. He was 21 years of age and is commemorated on the Thiepval, Stourbridge, Wollaston and King Edward VI College Memorials and on his parents' grave in Stourbridge Cemetery.