THE Battle of Messines on June 7, 1917 was a victory for the British Army in the First World War but it cost the lives of two soldiers from Redditch who were killed 100 years ago this week.
Frank Hack was the eldest son of eight children born to Arthur and Ann Hack.
He was born in 1889 and the family lived in Clive Road, Redditch and worked as a fishing rod maker before volunteering for the army, enlisting in Birmingham on October 4, 1915.
Described as 5ft 3.5ins tall, he enlisted in the Duke of Cambridge’s Own Middlesex Regiment.
The records show he was wounded on September 25, 1916 and was given permission to return home to Clive Road.
However he was returned to the front where his unit, part of the 24th Division, was stationed around Ypres.
The Battle of Messines began at 3.10am with the detonation of 19 mines under German lines, the British and Anzac troops scoring a stunning victory over the enemy.
Frank’s unit was held in reserve, but as the day wore on they were moved into the front line, however they were hit by sustained fire from German artillery.
When they attacked they were mowed down by enemy machine guns and it is likely that Frank died here.
His personal effects were returned to a Jennie Manders, possibly his sister, who was living in Broom near Alcester.
He is remembered on the St Stephens war memorial.
Alfred George Webb Gould was born in 1881, one of the seven children of William Charles Webb and his wife Frances in Feckenham.
William was a senior partner in WW Gould & Sons needle and fish hook manufacturers and Alfred attended boarding school in Bromsgrove.
However he is next heard of working as a servant in Bromsgrove and by 1911 was living in Norwich and employed as a furnishing salesman.
He met his wife Hilda there and the couple lived at 63 Park Lane, Norwich, which still stands today.
During the war he served as a private in 9th Service Battalion of The Loyal North Lancashire and like Frank Hack he found himself thrown into the Battle of Messines.
He is buried at the Wulverghem-Lindenhoek Road Military Cemetery, near Ypres in Belgium and is remembered on the St John the Baptist war memorial in Feckenham.
As a postscript he left Hilda £440 in his will – equivalent in £35,153.18 in today’s money.
With thanks to Remembering Redditch’s Fallen Heroes and www.forces-war-records.co.uk
