Private Sidney William Dawes, 11th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, was killed in action on 30th April 1917. He was born in Knowle in 1893 and was the youngest of the ten children (seven sons, three daughters) of parents Robert (a nurseryman) and Mary Annie (née Field) who had married in 1871.
29th April 1917
Two local men lost their lives in France on 29th April 1917, Private Elliott Spencer, “B” Company, 11th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment, and Private Francis Edward Thornley, 13th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
Continue reading “29th April 1917”28th April 1917
Three local men lost their lives in France on 28th April 1917 – Private Albert Cooper, 2nd/5th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment; Private Fred Bernard Pardington, Royal Marine Light Infantry; and Private Alfred Smith, 11th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
26th April 1917
Sergeant Frank Webb, aged 29, died on 26th April 1917, serving with 11th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Born in Barston on 28th December 1888, he was baptised at St John Baptist Church, Berkswell on 31st March 1889. He was the third of the four children of parents Thomas (an insurance agent for the Prudential Assurance Co.) and Jane (née Bray) who had married at St Mary’s Church, Warwick in 1882.
25th April 1917
Two local men died on active service on 25th April 1917. 21-year-old Private Douglas Walker Clarke, 12th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment was killed in action in Salonika, and Private Frederick Perks, 15th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment was killed in France.
24th April 1917
Two local men died in France on 24th April 1917. Second Lieutenant Harold James Goodwin, 135th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery was killed in action and Gunner Leslie Richards Reeve, D Company, Machine Gun Corps (Heavy Section) (later Tank Corps), died of wounds.
23rd April 1917
Four local men died on 23rd April 1917: Private John Evelyn Biddle and Private James Miles, both of the 11th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment; Lance Corporal Thomas Abel Holmes, of 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment, and Captain Edward Maurice Gonner M.C., of the 16th Church Lads Brigade Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps.
20th April 1917
Private Charles Hill, aged 31, died on 20th April 1917 serving with the 12th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment (Bristol’s Own). Born in Aston in 1886, he was a delivery man for Dascombe’s bakery in Solihull before he enlisted in the Army in May 1916. Initially joining the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, he was transferred to the Gloucestershire Regiment.
16th April 1917
21-year-old Second Lieutenant John Harrison died on 16th April 1917 serving with “C” Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Born on 8th November 1895 in Indianapolis, USA, he was the eldest of the seven children of parents John Arthur (an insurance broker) and Florence (née Garfield), who had married in 1894. An Old Silhillian, John Harrison had left Solihull Grammar School (Solihull House) in 1912, aged 17, and entered his father’s insurance broking business in Birmingham. Whilst at the school he was a non-commissioned officer in the Officer Training Corps (O.T.C.)
14th April 1917
Private William Paston, 2nd Battalion, Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry, was killed in action on 14th April 1917, aged 38. He was born in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire in 1880 and was the second of eight children (three sons, five daughters) born to parents, George (an agricultural labourer) and Ann (née Treadgold) who had married in 1876. All three boys were killed in the war.
Solihull Life 