PRITCHARD, George E

G. Pritchard was the son of Sarah Pritchard of Abbey Villas, Bromsgrove Road, Halesowen. He was a regular soldier in the South Staffords and serving in the 2nd Battalion and probably had been recalled from the Reserve in August 1914. They went to Belgium at the outset of the war and at the end of the Autumn battles had lost over half their fighting men in the first Battle of Ypres. The battles at the end of October were particularly fierce but saved the city. During the Spring of 1915 they moved to Artois and went into trenches near Givenchy in low-lying, wet ground. In the Spring of 1915 attacks were planned. At Neuve Chapelle in March the Staffords fought in a diversionary attack but at nearby Festubert they were in the front line for the main attack on the 16th May. Some advance was made but the hoped for break-through was not achieved. Losses were high and among them was Lance Corporal George Westwood was killed in action on the 16th May. He was 34 years of age and is commemorated on the Le Touret and Halesowen Memorials.