PRIVATE HARRY GRIFFITHS
ROYAL WARWICKSHIRE REGIMENT
5TH APRIL 1918 AGE 26
BURIED: DUISANS BRITISH CEMETERY, ETRUN, FRANCE
Harry Griffiths died of wounds in a Casualty Clearing station at Duisans. Does the inscription his father chose refer to the fact of his death, the wounds that he suffered or the fact that he had to be involved in the war at all? We're not going to know.
Griffiths was a volunteer who served originally with the 15th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment, formed in Birmingham in September 1914. He went with it to France, landing in Boulogne on 27 November 1915. At the time of his death he was with the 1st Battalion. It's not possible to tell when he was wounded but the battalion had attempted an attack on the German lines on 31 March. They were driven back by heavy machine-gun fire, rifle grenades and artillery, suffering twenty-five Other Rank casualties killed and wounded.
His parents, Mr and Mrs Henry H Griffiths, lived at 8 Princess Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, but I haven't been able to find out anything else about him or his family.