GOLDIE, Charles MM

Charles Goldie was the son of John and Sarah Goldie of Dudley. He was a pre-war regular soldier who joined the Worcesters and served in the 1st Battalion. They were stationed in the Albany barracks at Parkhurst, Isle of Wight, where he married Ethel, daughter of a Grenadier. The Battalion moved in 1912 to Egypt and did not return until October 1914 when they were urgently needed. He joined the battalion on the 23rd March 1915, after the serious losses suffered in the attack at Neuve Chapelle ten days earlier. He might well have been promoted and stayed at the Worcesters' depot in 1914 to train new soldiers. Certainly by 1916 he had reached the rank of Company Sergeant Major. The Worcesters were called upon to attack again at nearby Aubers Ridge in May but the outcome again was unsuccessful. At the start of the 1916 Battle of the Somme on 1st July the Worcesters were in the General Reserve and on the 4th moved up to Contalmaison where the German resistance had been strong. They were part of a broad attack on the 7th but met a severe German counter-attack supported with heavt artilley. It was a hard-fought three days and it was probably in this battle that CSM Charles Goldie was awarded the Military Medal (London Gazette 14 September 1916). They left the line for reinforcements and took over trenches at Cuinchy near the Hohenzollern Redoubt. There were no major actions in Artois but front line duty was always dangerous with a continuous round of shell-fire, sniping and raids. CSM Charles Goldie was hit in some way and was killed in action on the 26th September. He was 26 years of age and is buried in Bethune Town Cemetery (V H 75) and commemorated on the Dudley and St. John's, Kates Hill, Memorials.