REA, Joseph Spencer

Joseph Rea was the son of Joseph and Annie Rea of 94 Bull Street, Brierley Hill. He volunteered for the South Staffs Territorials and joined the 1/5th Battalion. They were part of the 137th (Staffordshire) Brigade, 46th (North Midland) Division, and went to the Western Front on the 5th March 1915. After serving in the Ypres sector for three months they were moved to Artois early in October to reinforce the units still fighting the Battle of Loos. They were given the near impossible task of attacking the Hohenzollern Redoubt. They attacked over open ground at 2 p.m. on the 13th October and a third of the men were casualties. By the 1st July 1916 they were ready for front line action again and posted at Gommecourt for the first day of the Somme. Although only a diversionary attack it was another disaster with huge casualties. They were still there in February 1917. The weather was appalling but the line was fairly quiet. Shelling was a menace and Private Joseph Rea received serious wounds. He was sent to a Casualty Clearing Station where he died on the 9th February. He was 22 years of age and is buried in Warlincourt Halte British Cemetery, Saulty (IV H 13) and commemorated on the Brierley Hill, and Brierley Hill church Memorials. His brother, William, was killed on the 24th April 1917, leaving Annie, a widow, grieving for both her sons.