Captain Thomas St Pierre Bunbury died, aged 23, in an air battle on 31st August 1918 whilst serving with the 64th Squadron Royal Air Force. He was the elder of the two children of Captain (later Major-General) William Edwin Bunbury (1858-1925) and Eva Mary (née Gale) who had married in Bengal in 1893.
30th August 1918
Three local men lost their lives on 30th August 1918 whilst on active service – Private Henry Baughan, 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment; Private Robert Woods, 15th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment; and Private Alline Mountford Woollaston, 11th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.
27th August 1918
Private William Thompson Walters, 7th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers died on 27th August 1918, aged 20. Born in Solihull on 15th November 1897, he was the second of the five children of parents George Alfred Walters and Alice Robbins (née Thompson) who had married at St Alphege Church, Solihull in 1894. The couple had two sons and three daughters.
26th August 1918
Sergeant Edward Clarke MM was killed in action on 26th August 1918 whilst serving with the 7th Battalion Border Regiment. He died just ten days after returning from two weeks’ home leave, during which time he married Mabel Annie Florence, a widow, at St Alphege Church, Solihull.
24th August 1918
Two men with a local connection lost their lives on active service on 24th August 1918. Sergeant William Francis Mundy, whose parental home was in Olton died whilst serving with the 73rd Battery, 5th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. 29-year-old Frederick Pillinger from Elmdon died whilst serving with the 16th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
23rd August 1918
Two men from Shirley, Solihull lost their lives on active service on 23rd August 1918 – Private William Frank Ginder, 1st Battalion London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) and Gunner Frederick Thorne, D Battery, 15th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery.
19th August 1918
Lance Corporal Joseph Austin was killed in action on 19th August 1918 whilst serving with the 10th Battalion, The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), having previously been in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
16th August 1918
Captain (Temporary Major) George Christopher Samuel, 9th Battery, 82nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, died in France on 16th August 1918 as a result of wounds received in action on 10th August. Born in 1881 in Penge, Surrey, he was the eldest son and the second of the five children of parents George (a Baptist minister) and Mary (née Onions) who had married in 1878. Their eldest daughter, Elizabeth Webb Samuel (1879-1967) was born in Penge.
11th August 1918
19-year-old Lieutenant Harry Fawdry, Royal Air Force, was killed in action on 11th August 1918 when his aeroplane (DH9 serial number C1207) was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Zeebrugge. He was born in Sutton Coldfield in 1899, and was the eldest of the two sons of parents, Harry and Winifred Annie (née Hammersley). The couple had married at Bordesley, Birmingham in 1897 and were living at The Parade, Sutton Coldfield at the time of their eldest son’s baptism in October 1899.
9th August 1918
Two men with a local connection lost their lives on active service on 9th August 1918, the day after the start of the Battle of Amiens – Lance Corporal William Broadfield 2nd/10th Battalion, London Regiment, and Private Herbert Ronald King, 25th Battalion, Canadian Infantry.
Solihull Life 