Prescot Roll of Honour

Service Details

Although it isn't know when Ernest Worth joined the Army, his Medal Index Card shows that he initially served with the King's (Liverpool) Regiment. His number, 201421, was issued in the renumbering of the Territorial Forces in March 1917.

However, he then appears to have been transferred to the Welsh Regiment. His number with the Welsh, 285049, was assigned to the 6th (Territorial)( Battalion of the Welsh Regiment, but it seems likely that once he arrived in Flanders, Pte Worth was posted to the 9th Battalion in time for the Third Battle of Ypres, better known as Passchendale, which started on 31st July 1917.

The Battle of the Menin Road started on 20th September 1917 and was the third part of the Third Battle of Ypres. New infantry tactics, the 'leap frog' approach, were employed in this battle. These involved troops halting once they had taken their objective and consolidating the ground taken. Other waves of men then moved through these men and continued the advance, with the earlier waves becoming the tactical reserve.

The morning of 20th was overcast but dry. The 9th Battalion of the Welsh Regiment attacked as part of 58 Brigade, along with the 6th Bn, Wiltshire Regiment and 9th Bn, Cheshire Regiment. The attack started at 5:40 am but immediately, considerable enemy fire was encountered from south west of Hessian Wood, Hollebeke Chateau and the railway embankment. The Welsh Regiment were held up by fire from the wood, and this prevented them from reaching the first objective, causing the Wiltshires to form a defensive flank on their left.

At 6:24 am the advance was resumed. The Welsh were once again held up in passing through Hessian Wood but managed to take the northern edge of the wood and establish contact with the Wiltshire Regiment. Moat Farm and Funny Farm were also taken in this phase.

Ernest Worth was one of 58 men of his Battalion to be killed on 20th September. A contemporary account of the battle suggests that the majority of the casualties were as a result of German machine gun fire.

The fortunes of war denied him a marked grave and he is remembered on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient.

The Parish Magazine of 28th November 1917 reported 'Pte. Ernest Worth, 24, 5th Welsh Battalion. Killed in action in France 20th September 1917, of 6, Carvers Yard'.

His mother, Jane, was listed as his next of kin

Private Worth's Medal Index Card, which shows his service with the King's (Liverpool Regiment) as well as the Welsh Regiment, and his entitlement to the British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Ernest Worth's inscription on the Tyne Cot memorial.