ASTON, Samuel Harold

Samuel Aston was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Aston of 100 Ivanhoe Street, Scotts Green, Dudley. I 1901 his father had been a self-employed dealer in boots and shoes and drapery. He probably enlisted in 1917 and was sent to the 15th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment in the 41st Division. They were sent to Italy briefly and returned in March to face the great German Spring offensive. On the Lys they had to fall back beyond the Kemmelberg but eventually the enemy was halted. The first operation to drive the enemy back was undertaken by the Hampshires on the 8th August. It was the start of what became the Advance to Victory but the casualties included Private Samuel Aston. He was taken to a Casualty Clearing Station near Ypres where he died on the 22nd August. He was 19 years of age and is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium, (XXV C 25) and commemorated on the Dudley and Woodside Memorials.