REECE, Walter

Walter Reece lived with his parents at 17 Foredraft Street, Cradley, and attended Cradley CE school. He enlisted, probably in 1917, in the South Staffords Territorials and served in the 1/6th Battalion in the 46th (North Midland) Division. They had suffered severe losses at the Hohenzollern Redoubt in 1915 and on the first day of the Somme but in 1918 they had a significant role in the Advance to Victory. On the 29th September the Staffords broke through the Hindenburg line by crossing the 'impregnable' St. Quentin Canal and after a brief rest attacked again. Losses were not heavy but Private Walter Reece, acting as a dispatch runner, was badly wounded on the 10th October. He was evacuated to England and was sent for convalescence to the Southern General Hospital at Kingsheath in Birmingham. He died after a long illness on the 8th December 1919. He was 20 years of age and is buried in St. Peter's churchyard, Cradley. He is commemorated on the Cradley, Halesowen and Cradley school Memorials.