WHITFIELD, William

William Whitfield came from Cradley and enlisted in the Worcester Territorials. He was sent to the 2/8th Battalion which crossed to France in the Summer of 1916. The battalion took up a position in the Artois sector close to Neuve Chapelle which had been the scene of serious losses for other Worcester battalions a year earlier. It was relatively quiet except for raids and sporadic shelling. The Worcesters had short spells in the front-line trenches and it was probably as a result of a shell that Private William Whitfield was killed in action on the 1st August. He is buried in Merville Communal Cemetery (II A 12) and is commemorated on the Cradley and Halesowen Memorials.