LLOYD, Richard E

Richard Lloyd volunteered for the South Staffords and joined the 8th (Service) Battalion in the 17th Division. Pioneers operated across the Division in detachments and for the 1917 Third Battle of Ypres were particularly busy behind the front line in the attacks along the Menin Road in late August. On the 26th August the Germans counter-attacked in force with flame-throwers, a new and deadly weapon, and intense shelling and this continued for several days. At one point there was hand-to-hand fighting in the trenches. After a break near Arras they went to the force assembling for the October attacks. The Staffords’ objective was a trench line near Pilkem. They attacked at dawn on the 12th October and eventually took their objective but under a combination of heavy shelling and much rain their casualties were very heavy. Among them was Lance Corporal Richard Lloyd who was killed in action on this day and commemorated on the Tyne Cot, Brierley Hill and Brierley Hill church Memorials.