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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.
Joseph Harrington lived with his parents at 7 New Road, Stourbridge, and attended the Roman Catholic Church and St. Joseph's School. His father was well known as a Stourbridge Councillor and Joe worked with his father at Messrs Rufford and Co. He enlisted in the Worcesters early in 1916 and was sent to the 11th (Service) Battalion. After a brief time in the 26th Division on the Western Front this battalion was sent to assist Greece against the Bulgarian invasion of 1915. They landed to defend Salonika, but the Bulgarian attack did not materialise. In July 1916 the division was ordered to advance and attack the Bulgarians at Doiran. The attack soon halted and the next few months were spent on the steep ridges and wooded ravines overlooking the lake. No attempt was made to break the stalemate until the next Spring. There were, however, casualties from shelling and Private Joseph Harrington was killed in action on the 12th April 1917. He was 25 years of age and is buried in Karasouli Military Cemetery, Greece (C 556) and commemorated on the Stourbridge and Roman Catholic church Memorials.
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13 New Road, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY8 1PQ
