CHANCE, George

George Chance was the son of Mr G. Chance of Birmingham Street, Stourbridge. He had joined the army as a young man and spent several years in peace time soldiering. By 1914 he was married and living at 3 St. Mary's Lane, Oldswinford. He enlisted in the Worcesters and joined the 4th Battalion. After costly fighting on the Somme in 1916 and in the Battle of Arras in 1917 the 4th was heavily engaged in Third Ypres. In July they fought at Langemarck and in October at Poelcappelle. This battle opened on the 9th October when the Worcesters were initially held up by bad weather and many fortified German pill boxes. William Dancox won the Victoria Cross on that day, but Corporal George Chance was killed in action in the latter stages of the battle on the 12th October. He was 27 years of age and was commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial. His name is not on the Stourbridge Memorial but he is commemorated on the St. John's school Memorial.