GREEN Roland

Awarded the Military Medal.

Roland Green enlisted in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force on 11th November 1914 at Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  On his attestation form he gave his date of birth as 13th July 1889 in Worcestershire, England, his profession as a farmer and his next of kin as Albert Green, Grimley, Worcestershire, England.  Roland was 5 feet 10 inches tall with brown eyes, dark hair and a light complexion.

Roland sailed with his unit from Canada on the 15th May 1915. After spending time training in England he was posted overseas to France on the 14th September 1915. Roland was killed in action on the 15th September 1915 and posthumously awarded the Military Medal on the 16th November 1916 for bravery in the field. The citation reads:
For conspicuous service and devotion to duty.
During the operations against St Eloi, he remained on duty with a Machine Gun continuously from the 5th€“12th April under most trying conditions of exposure and fatigue, and hostile fire.
He was instrumental in holding the Crater when it was being surrounded by the enemy, who were driven off by his gun fire and three taken prisoner.

RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 3783 – 62

United Parish Magazine, November 1914:
Added to last month’s list of men serving from this parish the following four young men who have all quitted their work in Canada to come to help in the defence of the motherland:- Roland Green and Percy V Green, sons of Mr A Green of the Church Farm, and brothers of Oswyn Green, already on the list.

United Parish Magazine May 1915:
Our Roll of Honour
We have, from time to time, given the names of those connected with our parish who are serving in the War.  A wish has been expressed that we should have a complete list printed, stating the particular branch of service in which each man is engaged.  We accede to this request in supplying the following Roll:-
Roland Green Canadian Contingent

United Parish Magazine, December 1916:
We record, with deep regret, the deaths of four brave men from our parochial Roll of Honour:- Harry Lewis, Roland Green, Robert Mann and Francis Akerman.  Expressing our fullest sympathy with the relatives of these heroes in their bereavement, we firmly believe that they have followed in the footsteps of our Lord in laying down their lives for their friends, and for humanity.

The Canada War Graves Registers (Circumstances of Casualty) record the following information on Rowland Green:
“Killed in Action”
He was instantly killed by a piece of shell whilst in the support trenches near the sugar refinery, Courcelette, on the afternoon of September 15th, 1916. Body not recovered for burial.

A photograph of Sergeant R. Green, M.M. of Grimley can be found in Berrow’s Worcester Journal Supplement, Saturday 9th February 1918, available at Worcestershire Archives.

Roland Green has no known grave, the photograph available shows his name on Vimy Memorial.