HINGLEY, Frank

Frank Hingley was a Blackheath man who enlisted in the Worcesters just before the outbreak of war and joined the 3rd Battalion in the British Expeditionary Force. They crossed the Channel on the 12th August and advanced to Mons. Then followed the long retreat to the Marne and the success of halting the German invasion. In October the newly developed German attack on Ypres took the Battalion to its defence. At Gheluvelt a crucial charge by the 2nd Battalion marked a turning point in the first Battle of Ypres. On the 7th November it was the turn of the 3rd Battalion to halt another fierce assault in Ploegsteert Wood. The battle was fought in vile conditions of heavy rain and casualties were heavy. They included Private Frank Hingley who was killed in action on the 7th November. He was 20 years of age and is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial and on the Blackheath and Halesowen Memorials.