MASTERS, Albert Edmund

Albert Masters was the son of Mrs Masters of Adelaide Street, Brierley Hill. He was a pre-war regular soldier in the South Staffords and in 1914 was serving in the 2nd Battalion. They were part of the British Expeditionary Force and mobilised as soon as war was declared. On the 12th August crossed the Channel to Belgium on their way to Mons but then suffered the gruelling retreat to the Marne. There the Allies were saved from defeat and the German army was forced to retreat to the Aisne. When their next attack was aimed at Ypres, the Staffords moved north to save this key city and after some critical days in late October again helped to stop enemy victory. They advanced to Pilkem to protect Ypres and halt the German invaders. A further advance on the 27th took them to Passchendaele village where they met the massed ranks of the enemy. The enemy fell in great numbers but the British forces were relatively few and had to fall back. Private Albert Masters was killed in action on this day and is commemorated on the Menin Gate, Brierley Hill and Brierley Hill church Memorials.