PARSONS, Joseph Josiah

Joseph Parsons came from Cradley and served in the Devonshire Regiment and the London Regiment before being transferred to the 8th Berkshires. By the beginning of 1918 they were in the 18th Division and endured almost unbroken success from April to November 1918. They assisted in the defence of Villers-Bretonneux in April at the greatest extension of German success and were then in the front line on the 8th August in the crucial first defeat of the German army. In the Advance to Victory they crossed the old Somme Battlefield and led the attack on Albert and La Boisselle. On the 2nd September they helped in taking the Morval ridge and Combles. The Germans no longer counter-attacked but shelled where their old lines had been. Probably in such a way Private Joseph Parsons was killed in action on the 3rd September. He is buried in Bernafay Wood Cemetery, Montaubon, (M 51) and is commemorated on the Cradley and Halesowen Memorials.