RAY, William F

William Ray lived at 7 Talbot Street, Stourbridge, and attended St. John's School. He enlisted in the Warwicks and joined the 16th (3rd Birmingham Pals) Battalion in the 5th Division. They were involved in some fierce actions during the 1918 German Spring offensives which drove the British Army into a series of retreats. After a period of rest and re-training the Warwicks returned to the front line during the Advance to Victory. They fought their way forward without a break from the 21st August across the old Somme battlefield to the end of September when they neared the Hindenburg Line at St. Quentin. The breaking of the German Line at St Quentin on the 28-29 September was one of the greatest successes of the British army but Private William Ray was seriously wounded near Gouzeaucourt on the 28th September and died the next day. He was 19 years of age and is buried at Grevillers Cemetery (XIV E 16) near Bapaume and commemorated on the Stourbridge and St. Thomas's church Memorials.