Korean War

Two local casualties of the Korean War (1951-53) are commemorated on Solihull war memorial. Corporal David Nigel Fellows, aged 20, was killed on 7th August 1951, and 24-year-old Corporal Robert Henry Smith was killed on 8th October 1951.

David Nigel Fellows (1931-1951)

Born in Birmingham on 28th July 1931, David was the son of parents John Fellows (1896-1954) and his wife, Madeline Iris (née Mountford) (1903-1957) who had married in Harborne in 1924. He was the youngest of three siblings, having one brother John Mountford Fellows (1925-2006) and a sister, Patricia Valerie Fellows (1930-2019).

The family had moved to 45 Manor Road, Solihull by 1939, and remained there until the death of Madeline Fellows in 1957.

David Fellows joined Bromsgrove School in 1944, where he was a keen cricketer, winning a place in the school XI in 1948. He left the school in July 1948, aged 17, to spend a year at work before his military service. He worked for the Birmingham Box Co. Ltd, of which his father was managing director.

He volunteered for military service in Hong Kong, from where he was posted to Korea, serving as a Corporal with the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. He was killed in fighting in the Imjin River on 7th August 1951, as a result of a missile wound in his right shoulder and back. He died just three weeks before his planned return to England in readiness for his demobilisation in October 1951.

Corporal Fellows is buried at the UN Memorial Cemetery, Tanggok, Pusan, Korea.

Robert Henry Smith (1927-1951)

Born in Solihull on 6th June 1927, Robert Smith was the elder of the two sons of parents Arthur Smith (1903-1956), a labourer at Solihull Gas Works, and his wife, Amelia Jane (née Murray) (1904-1964) who had married in Solihull in 1926. Their youngest child, Gordon, was born in Solihull in 1935 and appears to have emigrated to Australia, where he died in 2007. By 1939, the family was living at 36 Damson Lane, Solihull.

Robert Henry Smith attended Lode Heath School, Solihull and joined the Army in January 1945. He remained a regular soldier after the Second World War ended and was on occupation duties in Austria with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment shortly before being transferred to Korea. He was attached to the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, and had only been in the country for one week when he was one of 20 soldiers from the regiment killed in action on 6th October 1951 north of the River Imjin during the Battle of Maryang San, attacking Hill 217 in North Korea.

His mother told the Birmingham Mail that her son felt it was wrong to send National Servicemen to fight in Korea:

He told me once that older chaps who had some experience should do the job. I think that’s why he went.

Birmingham Mail, 11th October 1951

Private Smith is buried at the UN Memorial Cemetery, Tanggok, Pusan, Korea

If you have any further information on either of the men, please let us know. We’re not aware of any casualties of the Korean War from elsewhere in the present Solihull Borough so please contact us if you have details of any other local casualties.

Tracey
Library Specialist: Heritage & Local Studies

email: heritage@solihull.gov.uk