Corporal Clifford Newton Ryder, of the Australian Flying Corps, died on 10th April 1917 and was buried at Castle Bromwich churchyard on 13th April 1917.
10th April 1917
23rd March 1917
32-year-old Second Lieutenant William Moorwood Staniforth, Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was killed in a flying accident in Coventry on 23rd March 1917. Born in Hackenthorpe, near Sheffield, on 25th October 1884, he was the youngest child and second son of parents William and Sarah Hannah (née Moorwood), having three older sisters – Gertrude Mary (born 1872), Margaret Emily (born 1874) and Harriette Elaine (born 1875) – as well as an older brother (Thomas, born 1877).
29th January 1917
Private George William Irons of 11th Battalion, The King’s (Liverpool) Regiment, died in France on 29th January 1917. He was the second of three brothers from Castle Bromwich to die in the war.
12th January 1917
Two local men died on 12th January 1917 whilst on active service – Private Philip Hugh Gwyther, who was born in Castle Bromwich, and Private William Thomas Price. Private Gwyther was serving with the 1st Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment, whilst Private Price was with the 10th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
9th January 1917
Two local men lost their lives on 9th January 1917 whilst serving in the Armed Forces.
Commander The Hon. Richard Orlando Beaconsfield Bridgeman RN, DSO, the son of the 4th Earl of Bradford of Castle Bromwich Hall, drowned whilst on active service in East Africa (modern Tanzania) with the Royal Navy. Second Lieutenant Arthur Gordon Robinson died in France whilst serving with the 2nd Special Company, Royal Engineers.
6th January 1917
35-year-old Private John Harvey from Castle Bromwich died of epilepsy on 6th January 1917 whilst serving with the Reserve Battalion, Coldstream Guards.
John was the fifth child and eldest son of the eight children (three sons, five daughters) of parents Walter (a labourer) and Hannah (née Wilkinson), who had married at St Peter & St Paul’s Church, Aston in 1872. All of the children were born in Castle Bromwich, which was also their mother’s place of birth.
11th November 1916
Lance Corporal Richard Eric Bullows died on 11th November 1916 serving with the 1st/8th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He was the only son amongst the five children of parents William, a carpenter, and Sarah, who lived in a cottage at Little Heath, Castle Bromwich from at least 1891 until at least 1911.
26th September 1916
Four local men lost their lives on 26th September 1916 serving with the British Army in France – Lance Corporal Herbert Arculus, 16th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment; Private William Herbert Keel, 9th Battalion, Notts and Derby (Sherwood Foresters) Regiment; Major Guy Egerton Kidd, “A” Battery 70th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery; and Corporal Sam Chidler Ravenhall, 64th Brigade, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry).
17th September 1916
Two local men died on 17th September 1916 whilst serving in the Armed Forces. 19-year-old Lieutenant John Cyril Hodges, Royal Flying Corps, was born in Lerwick, Shetland and was killed in a flying accident at Castle Bromwich aerodrome. 26-year-old Private John Frederick Lewis Hornsby died in France whilst serving with the Wellington Regiment, New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
11th July 1916
28-year-old Frank Eden died of wounds at 35th Casualty Clearing Station, Doullens, France on 11th July 1916, whilst serving as a Private with the 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers. He was the seventh son out of the nine surviving children (eight sons, one daughter) of John and Maria Eden of New Street, Castle Bromwich.
Seven of the eight brothers – Henry John (1873-1955), Albert Edward (1874-1957), Percy (1881-1966), Fred (1884-1950), Arthur (1886-1916), Frank (1888-1916) and John (born 1890) – served in the First World War. Two of the brothers were killed. Frank was the second of the brothers to die on war service. His older brother, Arthur, had been killed about six weeks earlier. The remaining brother, Ernest (born 1879), had been a regular soldier and, according to a newspaper article on the remarkable family, tried desperately to re-enlist on the outbreak of war, but was unable to owing to a slight lameness in the leg.
Solihull Life 