Private William John Townsend was killed in action on 18th October 1918, serving with the 18th (Lancashire Hussars) Battalion of The King’s (Liverpool Regiment). He was the youngest of the four children (two sons, two daughters) of parents, John (a waggoner) and Harriet (née Price) who had married in Bickenhill in 1888. Both of the boys died on active service as William’s elder brother, George, a Lance Corporal with the same regiment as William, was killed in July 1918.
10th October 1918
Two men with a local connection lost their lives on 10th October 1918 whilst on active service – 30-year-old Private Wilfred Harry Bayliss, 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, and 29-year-old Gunner Arthur Sidney Pope, “B” Battery, 56th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery.
6th October 1918
Two local men lost their lives on 6th October 1918 as a result of their war service. Charles Leonard Ball had been discharged from the Army so doesn’t actually appear on any official records as a casualty, although his name is recorded locally on Olton war memorial. Private Stephen Mumford MM, 50th Battalion, Machine Gun Corps died on active service in France, possibly as a prisoner of war.
1st September 1918
Two local men lost their lives on 1st September 1918 whilst on active service. Private Hubert John Draper was serving with 4th Battalion, London Regiment (Royal Fusiliers) whilst Private Frank George England was with the Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) attached to the 1st/20th Battalion, London Regiment.
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.
Self-build housing in Solihull
They Made It Happen! exhibition in the Heritage Gallery on the first floor of The Core Library, Solihull from July-September 2018 celebrated the self-build housing associations which were set up by people so desperate for a home of their own to rent that they built their own, and then rented it from the housing association. At the time, they had no expectation of being able to buy the houses although, when regulations were relaxed a few years later, most were subsequently able to buy.
Continue reading “Self-build housing in Solihull”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.
16th July 1918
Two men with a local connection lost their lives on 16th July 1918 whilst on active service – Private Percy Farmer Draycott, Royal Army Service Corps and Private Charles Henry Hiles, 18th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers.
27th May 1918
Three local men died on 27th May 1918 whilst on active service.
- Private Edward George Cakebread, 2nd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment
- Private Henry George Knight, 22nd Battalion, Durham Light Infantry
- Private Frank Victor Perks, 5th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment
All three have no known grave and are commemorated on the Soissons Memorial, France.
22nd April 1918
Major Frank Northey Harston MC was killed in action on 22nd April 1918 serving with the 11th Brigade, East Lancashire Regiment. He was born in Blatchinworth, Rochdale, Lancashire in 1890 and was the second of the three sons of parents John Edwin (HM Inspector of Factories) and Bessie Anne Northey (née Plucknett) who had married in Devon in 1886. The youngest son, Lionel Brunyee Harston (1893-1894), died as an infant.
Solihull Life 