WALLENS, Edgar William

Edgar Wallens was born in Stourbridge and was living there when he enlisted. He was sent to the Army Service Corps and transferred to the Machine Gun Corps. He was posted to the 122nd Company in the 41st Division, which was active in the opening campaigns of the 1917 Third Battle of Ypres. They were, however, transferred to Italy in October after the Austro-German breakthrough at Caporetto and the consequent threat to Venice. The British force was sent to the Piave river and took up position near the hill called the Montello. On the 4th December the British took over the Montello sector from Italian troops and started patrolling the Piave. There was little action but one of the first men to be killed was Private Edgar Wallens. He is buried in Giavere British Cemetery (II A 5) near the Montello and is commemorated on the Lye and Wollescote and Lye church Memorials.