Colonel William Ralph PRESCOTT, M.C., T.D., D.L., J.P.

Commanded the 7th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment from 1932 to November 1936.
Commanded the 9th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment from 1939 to October 1940.

Born 6th April 1894, Colonel Prescott was gazetted 2/Lieutenant and posted to the 1/7th Battalion The Worcestershire Regiment on 4th September, 1914. He crossed to France with the Battalion in March of the following year.

He then continued to serve with the 1/7th Battalion throughout the whole of the War, in Belgium, France and Italy, except for one short period of four months in 1917 when he was sent home wounded. He was again wounded during the final Austrian offensive in June 1918.

He was promoted Captain on the 21st June 1917.

While serving with the Battalion he was awarded the Military Cross and two Bars, all immediate awards, and was mentioned in despatches. He was twice wounded, once at the capture of Gillemont Farm on 25th, April, 1917, and again during the final Austrian offensive on 15th June, 1918.

He returned home with the Cadre of the 1/7th Battalion on 31st March, 1919, exactly four years after first crossing to France.

He rejoined the Battalion in 1920 after it had been reformed and was posted to 'B' Company (Stourbridge), then later in the year he was granted a Regular Commission and joined the 2nd Battalion Worcestershire Regiment in Dublin. He served with the 2nd and 4th Battalions until 1923 when he returned to the 7th Battalion as Adjutant. This appointment he held until 1926 and then held the same appointment in the 2nd Battalion, on the Rhine, at Plymouth, and in Malta.

In 1931 he retired from the Regular Army only to rejoin the 7th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment in the following year, this time as commanding officer where his high standard and enthusiasm did much to enhance the Battalion.

In 1936 he was promoted Colonel, then in 1939 when the Second World War broke out he was appointed Brigade Commander of 184 Inf. Brigade as a Temporary Brigadier, charged with the task of defending Bristol. However this was to be a short lived episode due to him being appointed to command the 9th Battalion The Worcestershire Regiment, which he did until October 1940 when he retired from the Army.

Colonel W. R. Prescott M.C.

Colonel W. R. Prescott
(known as "Hook" Prescott)

Captain W. R. Prescott M.C.

Colonel W. R. Prescott

(as a Captain)

In 1953 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 7th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment, a position he held until 1958.

He was a former national president of the County Landowners Association and had held many positions in Hereford diocesan affairs, besides being a Deputy Lieutenant and a J.P.

Colonel W. R. Prescott died on 5th April, 1982, the day before his birthday, aged 87.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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