MEESE, Harry

Harry Meese lived in Queen Street, Stourbridge, and attended Enville Street Council School. He enlisted in the regular army with the Worcesters in 1910 and served in the 3rd Battalion for three years in India. This battalion was in the BEF at the outbreak of war and quickly crossed to France to meet the invading German armies. Harry Meese went through the retreat from Mons and the battle of the Aisne in August and September 1914 and moved to Spanbroek Mill near Ypres for the winter period. The battalion was engaged in serious fighting on the 12th March and was then transferred to Ypres and the Menin Road. The battle of the Bellewaerde Ridge on 15th June was an attempt to drive the Germans back, but it failed in the face of overwhelming artillery fire. Private Harry Meese was among the many killed in this action. He was 24 years of age and is commemorated on the Menin Gate, Stourbridge, St. Thomas's church and the former Enville Street school Memorials.