HASSALL, Harry T

Harry Hassall lived in St. Thomas's parish and enlisted in the Royal Marines. He was posted to the 2nd Battalion which formed part of the Royal Naval Division. Its units fought as infantry and it was renamed the 63rd (Royal Naval) Division in 1916. It was involved in the Gallipoli landings in 1915 and fought in the battle of the Ancre during the final stage of the Somme. In April 1917 it fought at Gavrelle in the Battle of Arras and after reorganisation it was sent to Flanders for the final stage of the Third Battle of Ypres. It arrived for the late October attempt to take the Passchendaele Ridge when the 2nd Royal Marines led an attack on the fortified farms around the Paddebeek stream. They suffered heavy casualties in the appalling conditions of mud and machine guns and Private Harry Hassell was killed in action on the 6th November, the day the Division left the front line. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot, Stourbridge and St. Thomas's church Memorials.