GRAZIER, George Henry

George Grazier was the son of Mr I S Grazier of 170 Moor Street, Brierley Hill, and worked as an enthusiastic member of the Brierley Hill Fire Brigade. He volunteered for the South Staffords and went to the 7th (Service) Battalion. They landed at Suvla Bay on Gallipoli on 6th August 1915 and Harry Grazier was seriously wounded during the first advance on the 9th August. He was sent back to England to Whitchurch hospital, Shropshire. He wrote from there to the County Express: Please thank the inhabitants of Brierley Hill for their kindness. I’m pleased to say I have recovered from my wounds. I have to thank God for my deliverance from that awful struggle of August 9th with those terrible Turks. I was fighting alongside Brierley Hill comrades and I’m sorry to say that they were shot and will never see their homes again. After evacuation in December the Staffords moved to the Western Front, where George Grazier joined them. They were in the Somme front line for the great attack on Thiepval on the 26th September when at last the defences were overcome. They stayed in the front line while the focus shifted eastward towards Gueudecourt and Bapaums. However, shelling and raids were frequent and Private George Grainger was killed in action on the 13th November. He was 21 years of age and is buried in Serre No 2 Cemetery (II C 8) and commemorated on the Brierley Hill and Brierley Hill church Memorials. His brother, Ernest, was killed in action on the 18th May 1915.