10th June 1917

Gunner Abraham Birch Stowe, of Solihull, was killed in action on 10th June 1917 serving with the 138th Heavy Brigade, Royal Garrison Artillery. A regular soldier, he joined the Royal Garrison Artillery in October 1908 and, in 1911, was stationed at Fort Tigné, Malta.

Abraham Birch Stowe, known by his middle name, was born in Solihull in 1888 and baptised on 25th March the same year.  He was the fifth of the six children (four boys, two girls) born to parents Abraham (a nursery gardener) and Matilda (a dressmaker) who had married in Wolverhampton in 1880. Five of the children survived to adulthood but their third child, Sarah Ann, died in 1884, aged seven months.

The family seems to have lived in Elmdon Heath from at least 1891 and, by 1911, were living at “Stonehurst”, a detached cottage with about half an acre of land. They seem to have remained there until at least 1931 when Abraham Stowe died. His wife, Ann, died in 1922.

Birch Stowe was killed in action on 10th June 1917 and is buried at Vlamertinghe Military Cemetery, Belgium, He is also commemorated locally on war memorials at Solihull and Catherine-de-Barnes.

If you have any further information, please let us know.

Tracey
Heritage & Local Studies Librarian

tel.: 0121 704 6977
email: heritage@solihull.gov.uk