26th July 1918

Lance-Corporal George Townsend was killed in action on 26th July 1918, whilst serving with the 12th Battalion The King’s (Liverpool Regiment).  He was the first of two brothers to be killed in the war.

George was born in Tile Cross, Sheldon in 1893. He was the eldest son and the third of the four children of parents John (a farm labourer) and Harriet (née Price) who had married in Bickenhill in 1888. The couple had two sons and two daughters – Ada (born 1889), Annie (born 1890), George (1893-1918) and William John (1895-1918). Both sons were killed in the war.

By 1911, all the children except for William John had left the family home.  Eldest daughter, Ada, was a domestic servant at The Grange, Yardley. It is possible that George is the George Townsend listed as a servant at the Ring o’ Bells, Church Road, Yardley. His place of birth is given only as Warwickshire, and his age is listed as 20, rather than 18.

George Townsend is buried at Villers Station Cemetery, Villers-au-Bois and is commemorated locally on war memorials at Sheldon and Olton.

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

Tracey
Heritage & Local Studies Librarian

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