WEBSTER, Herbert

Herbert Webster attended Halesowen C of E School and lived with his wife, Victoria, at 6 Victoria Street, Halesowen. He worked at the Coombes Wood Tube works and volunteered in 1914 for the Worcesters. He joined the 9th (Service) Battalion who were sent out in 1915 to Gallipoli to break the stalemate on the peninsula. They landed near Suvla Bay successfully on the 6th August and attempted to seize the crest of the ridge. They were close by the 10th but were driven off by the defenders. The rest of the campaign was a stalemate. The climate was extremely hot and trench warfare in the gullies and ravines highly dangerous. Suvla was evacuated in December with remarkably few casualties and the remaining troops, including the Worcesters, crowded into the Cape Helles position. A strong Turkish bombardment took place on the 6th January and among the casualties was Private Herbert Webster. He was 38 years of age and is commemorated on Helles, Halesowen and Halesowen C of E School Memorials.