KING, John William

John King lived in Foster Street, Moor Lane, Brierley Hill, and was employed as a glass-cutter in 1914. He enlisted during 1917 in the Royal Field Artillery and served as a Driver in A Battery, 250th Brigade, in the 50th (Northumbrian) Division. In 1917 they fought in the Spring battle of Arras and the long struggle of the Third Battle of Ypres. Their fight against the three German Spring offensives of 1918, however, was completely exhausting and they were taken out of the line. The artillery, however, was made ready for the highly important counter-attack of the 5th August which started from close to Amiens. Its success on the first day of the advance was described by Ludendorff as ‘the black day of the German army’ and opened the way to the Advance to Victory. It appears that Gunner John King was seriously wounded by a bomb from a German aeroplane and taken to a Casualty Clearing Station where he died of wounds on the 12th August. He is buried in Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery (18 D 5) and commemorated on the Brierley Hill and Brierley Hill church Memorials.