GRIFFIN, Thomas

Thomas Griffin He lived in Coalbournbrook with his wife and one child and before 1914 worked for Messrs Stuart and Sons in their glass-works at Wordsley. He served with the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards in the Third Battle of Ypres and in the difficult days of the retreat in March 1918 in the face of the first German Spring offensive. In August the advantage moved in the opposite direction as the Germans fell back towards the Hindenburg Line. They relied on the highly fortified Canal du Nord but in a decisive battle on the 27th September the canal was crossed and the Advance to Victory became reality. The Guards led one of the attacks on that day and casualties were taken. They included Guardsman Thomas Griffin who was killed by shrapnel and is buried in Sanders Keep Military Cemetery, Graincourt-les-Havrincourt (III A 9). He is commemorated on the Amblecote Memorial. Memorial notice. ‘Ever remembered by his loving wife and child’ September 1919 It may be a solder’s honour For his country’s cause to fall But we cannot think of the glory In the sorrow it has caused.