BROOKES, John Henry

John Brookes was the son of Thomas Brookes and the husband of Amanda of 51 Fenton Street, Brierley Hill. He volunteered for the South Staffs Territorials and joined the 1/5th Battalion. They were part of the 137th (Staffordshire) Brigade, 46th (North Midland) Division, and went to the Western Front on the 5th March 1915. After serving in the Ypres sector for three months they were moved to Artois early in October to reinforce the units still fighting the Battle of Loos. They were given the task of attacking the Hohenzollern Redoubt and Fosse 8 in front of which many other units had failed. They attacked over open ground at 2 p.m. on the 13th October. It was nearly half a mile to the German wire and a third of the men were casualties, including Private John Brookes. He was 30 years of age and is commemorated on the Loos, Brierley Hill and Brierley Hill church Memorials.