ELWELL, Albert Louis

Bert Ewell was the son of William and Mary Elwell of 42 Market Street, Kingswinford, and attended St. Mary’s C of E School. He worked as a fireman at the Great Western Railway station, Stourbridge. He enlisted in 1918 and was sent to the 7th Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment. He arrived on the Western Front in April 1918 when the Leicesters went to what was expected to be a quiet section of the front line. However, it was an area near the Chemin des Dames and the city of Reims and was the target of the last great German Spring offensive. The British troops were driven back again with great loss and Bert Elwell was one of the many to be captured. He was taken to a POW camp at Zwickau where he died as a consequence of captivity. Private Bert Elwell is buried in Berlin South Western Military Cemetery (V F 4) and commemorated on the Kingswinford Memorial.