BAYLISS, Walter Herbert

Walter Bayliss was the son of Charles and Ellen Bayliss of 6 Cross Street, Langley. He volunteered for the Worcesters and joined the 10th (Service) Battalion which went to France in 1915. They were sent to Artois and endured the winter of 1915-16 in trenches near Festubert. After re-training they were among those battalions selected for the first day of the Somme. On the 1st July the first waves of men made little progress and the 10th were held until the 3rd July for the delivery of an assault on the village of La Boisselle and its neighbour, Ovillers. It was a daunting proposition but at heavy cost the German defenders of La Boisselle were cleared and Private Fred Turrall was awarded the Victoria Cross. Among the many killed on that day were five Halesowen men, all commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. They included Private Walter Bayliss who was 30 years of age and commemorated on the Blackheath and Halesowen Memorials.