DICKENS, Harry

Harry Dickens was the son of William and Sarah Dickens of Lye and volunteered for the Staffordshire Territorials. He went to the 2/6th Battalion which crossed to France in 1916. They participated in the Battle of the Somme and were prominent in the Third Battle of Ypres. In March 1918 they were on the front line facing the Hindenburg Line at St. Quentin anticipating the first German Spring offensive. The vast opening barrage and the overwhelming number of enemy troops drove the British forces back over the old Somme battlefield and left the Worcesters with many casualties. Among them was Private Harry Dickens who was killed in action on the 23rd March. He was 24 years of age and is buried in Bac du Sud Cemetery at Bailleulval ( I B 9) and commemorated on the Lye and Wollescote and Lye church Memorials.