JONES, Joseph

Joseph Jones was a pre-war regular soldier in the Worcesters who had been discharged after 10 years service in August 1913. In 1914 he was publican at the Mitre Hotel in Upper High Street, Lye. He volunteered on the outbreak of war for the Royal Artillery and served in the 14th Heavy Battery of the Royal Garrison Artillery which went to the Western Front in May 1915. It was involved in the 1916 Battle of the Somme but with light casualties. Its next serious operation was the Battle of Arras starting on the 9th April 1917. During the later stages of the battle a German counter-attack took place while the Battery held an advanced position on the road to Cambrai. There were heavy casualties and Gunner Joseph Jones suffered gun-shot wounds to the head. He was taken to the military hospital at Etaples where he died on the 26th April. He was 36 years of age and left a widow and four young children. He is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery (XIX K 1) and commemorated on the Lye and Wollescote and Lye church Memorials.