A PROJECT is under way to restore the memorial of a commanding officer who died while serving the Worcestershire Regiment in World War I.

Captain Houston Stewart Hamilton Wallace was killed in action on July 22, 1916, and listed on the Cheshire Roll of Honour.

Its trustee Stephen Benson saw his memorial in the French village of Bazentin-le-Petit was in a “dreadful state” during a visit to the Somme area and is now trying to raise £5,500 to carry out the work.

He said: “Last year on one of my visits to the Somme I noticed the poor condition of the private memorial to Captain Houston Stewart Hamilton Wallace, 10th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment.

“Houston was from Birkenhead which until 1974 was part of Cheshire and therefore he is on the roll.

“I started a project to restore the memorial and now have approval from the mayor of Bazentin to carry out a restoration and ground improvement project in the early summer.

“I am now trying to raise £5,500 to carry out the work.”

Houston was born in Birkenhead on June 22, 1892, the only child of William Hamilton and Emily Constance, the daughter of Joshua Heap who in the 1890s was classed as the wealthiest man on the Wirral.

He was educated at Fettes College, Edinburgh, from 1906 to 1912 and Merton College, Oxford.

William was Justice of the Peace (JP) for Birkenhead and the family lived in Claughton.

But in 1912 Houston’s father William died in a tragic accident after playing golf at Wallasey and in April 1914 his mother Emily passed away, leaving effects of £15,040 to Houston.

He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Worcestershire Regiment on October 2, 1914, and went to France on August 1, 1915.

On his service records his aunt Beatrice Heap was his next of kin.

Captain Wallace was killed in action on July 22, 1916, after the 10th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment moved into the line on July 20.

The objectives were to take or capture the German machine gun positions believed to be on the road between the village of Bazentin and High Wood.

Attacks on July 21 and 22 both failed with the battalion suffering heavy casualties.

During the attack on July 22 towards the machine gun and barricade positions Houston was killed.

After the war his aunt arranged for a private memorial.

From January 9, 1925, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) was empowered to maintain the memorial for 20 years.

After World War II Miss Heap could not be traced and the memorial fell into disrepair.

In fact, she had died in 1940. In 1991 the Western Front Association (WFA) recorded the memorial and only the dilapidated cairn remained.

Over the next three years work was done to restore the memorial which was achieved after the original cross was discovered by historian Paul Reed.

Mr Benson continued: “Since then the memorial has fallen into a dreadful state and is urgent need of restoration.

"I need a little help to raise the remaining funds to complete the work. So far I have £1,770.

“I also hope to raise enough funds to repair/replace the family headstone in Flaybrick Cemetery, Birkenhead, which mentions Houston and to also do some basic repairs and cleaning of another private memorial to nine Royal Engineers, killed a week after Houston, which is just a few hundred metres away from Houston’s memorial.

“The plan is to have the funds in place by the end of April and the work to be completed by the beginning of July with a rededication service at the memorial in Bazentin on July 22, the anniversary of the day Houston fell.”

The free Cheshire Roll of Honour website is dedicated to remembering all those from the county who have fallen in conflict since the Boer War to the present day.

It has been running for nearly 10 years and has over 31,000 names listed so far along with nearly 5,000 pictures.

For more details and to support the appeal, visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/HSHWallace.