LAURENCE, Howard (Lawrence)

Howard Wolsgrove Lawrence was the son of Charles and Laura Lawrence of 83 Balds Lane, Wollescote and attended Wollescote school. He was an iron-ware worker employed by Messrs Eveson Bros. of Lye. He enlisted in the Worcesters and was sent to the 1st Battalion. They fought through the 1916 Battle of the Somme and in the Spring of 1917 followed up the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line. In June they were part of the forces concentrating on Ypres for the Third Battle of Ypres. Ypres was heavily shelled each day and on the 5th July their march out of the city coincided with a heavy strafe by the enemy. There were many casualties and Private Howard Lawrence was taken to a military hospital near Boulogne. He died of wounds on the 17th July and is buried in Wimereux Military Cemetery (II O 2). He was 29 years of age and is commemorated on the Lye and Wollescote, Lye church and Wollescote school Memorials. Two of his brothers were killed in the war: Harold on the 22 September 1918 and John on the 12th April 1918, both of the Royal West Kent Regiment. One brother survived.