PLANT, William

William Plant was the son of Thomas and Lucy Toms of 15 Chawn Hill, Oldswinford. He attended Oldswinford C of E School and volunteered for the Worcester Territorials. He joined the 1/7th Battalion which had crossed to France in March 1915. Its greatest test had been the long battle of the Somme from July to November 1916 and several Stourbridge men had been killed in the course of this period. In the Spring of 1917 the battalion left the front line for a quiet sector. Here they prepared for the Third Battle of Ypres which opened on the 31st July. The battalion's first action was on the 16th August when they were in the front line during the battle of Langemarck. They advanced across the Steenbeek just north of St. Julien under heavy shelling. On that day, however, the attack failed because of the German concrete block-houses and fortified farms which defied even heavy artillery. However, with the help of tanks the Worcesters were at last successful in taking the fortress-like Maison du Hibou on the 20th August. This was probably the first real success of the much-maligned tanks in 1917. Private William Plant, however, had been killed in action on the 17th August. He was 30 years of age and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot, Stourbridge, Oldswinford church and Oldswinford C of E School Memorials.