WHEELER STREET

​

27 Wheeler Street

HAWKINS Harold

Rank : Lance Sergeant
Regiment : 2nd Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment
Service number : 16659
Conflict : WW1
Date of death : Killed in action on 28th April 1917
Buried : Commemorated on Arras Memorial, France, Bay 6.
Birthplace : Wall Heath, Staffordshire, resident Stourbridge, Worcestershire, enlisted Brierley Hill, Staffordshire
Memorial : Stourbridge War Memorial
Also appears on : Stourbridge Our Lady and All Saints Roman Catholic Church with the additional information: 2nd S. Staffs 28 Apl. 1917
Credits : Researched by The Black Country Society.

Details:

Harold Hawkins was born at Wall Heath and was the seventh and youngest son of ex-PC Hawkins who came to live at 27 Wheeler Street, Stourbridge.  Before 1914 he was a glass-maker for Messrs Fleming and Co. at Amblecote.  He volunteered in December 1914 for the Worcesters and gained rapid promotion to Sergeant.  He had been recommended for a commission but was injured at Delville Wood in August 1916.  After convalescing at Chelsea Hospital he returned to the front with the South Staffords and was posted to the 2nd Battalion in Artois.  When the Battle of Arras started on the 9th April the Staffords were in reserve and were not used until the 28th April at Oppy Wood.  The German defences, however, were strong and a counter attack drove the British troops back to their start line.  Over 200 men were casualties and among those killed in action was Lance Sergeant Harold Hawkins.  He was 25 years of age.

Harold Hawkins has no known grave, the photograph available shows his name on the Arras Memorial.

​

​

38 Wheeler Street 

RICHARDS Charles V

Rank : Sergeant
Regiment : 144th Horse Transport Company Royal Army Service Corps
Service number : S213304
Conflict : WW1
Date of death : 19th February 1919 aged 29
Buried : Lille Southern Cemetery, France, Grave II. A. 4.
Relatives : Son of Charles and Mary Ann Richards, 38 Wheeler St., Stourbridge
Memorial : Stourbridge War Memorial
Also appears on : Stourbridge St Thomas's Church.
Credits : Researched by The Black Country Society. Cathedral Roll of honour books researched by Sandra Taylor.

Details:

Charles Richards lived at 38 Wheeler Street, Stourbridge, and was employed by J. Chance, the Stourbridge butcher.  

He enlisted in 1915 in the Army Service Corps as a driver.  He served with the 144th Heavy Transport Company on the Western Front, gaining promotion, until the war was over.  

While his unit was occupying Lille, he caught influenza and died quickly of pneumonia on the 19th February 1919. His Commanding Officer regarded him as one of his best NCO’s.  He wrote to his widow, ‘I personally have lost a friend who would have stuck to me through thick and thin.’

 

 

 

 

 47 Wheeler Street

GRIFFIN William D

Rank : Sapper
Regiment : 263rd Railway Company Royal Engineers
Service number : WR269162
Conflict : WW1
Date of death : 12th November 1918 aged 31
Buried : Etaples Military Cemetery, France, Grave L. B. 5.
Relatives : Husband of A.M. Griffin, 47 Wheeler St., Stourbridge, Worcestershire
Memorial : Stourbridge War Memorial
Credits : Researched by The Black Country Society. Cathedral Roll of honour books researched by Sandra Taylor.

Details

​

William Griffin lived at 47 Wheeler St., Stourbridge, and was a member of the New Road United Methodists.  

He enlisted in the Royal Engineers in February 1916 and went to the 263rd Railway Company on the Western Front.  He was injured in the course of the Advance to Victory and sent to the Military Hospital at Etaples.  

He died there on the 12th November just one day after the Armistice.  

Sapper William Griffin was 31 years of age and he left a widow and a son.  His wife had already lost two of her brothers in the war.