PEARCE, Joseph

Joe Pearce was the son of Charles and Louisa Pearce of 103 Spring Lane, Cradley, and attended Cradley C of E School. He volunteered at the start of the war and joined the 1st Battalion of the Worcesters. They had suffered heavily in the first Battle of Ypres in October 1914 and Joseph Pearce joined them for the March Battle of Neuve Chapelle. The attack which started at dawn on the 10th March over flat and well fortified ground was unsuccessful and Private Joseph Pearce was among those seriously wounded. With shell splinters in his leg he was taken to the base hospital at Boulogne and then sent back to England. After hospital operations he was discharged in 1916 with a Silver War Badge and died at his home on the 10th November 1918, just a single day before the Armistice. He was 25 years of age and is commemorated on the Cradley and Cradley C of E. School Memorials.