21-year-old John Henry Upton died of wounds on 7th October 1917, serving as a Private with 1/6 Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He was the second of the four children of parents John Garfield Upton (a cab man) and Caroline (née Briscoe) who had married in Birmingham in 1894.
5th October 1917
Private Horace James Davis, 9th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment died on 5th October 1917. He was born in Solihull and baptised at St Alphege Church on 26th February 1893. He was the seventh of the eight children (six daughters, two sons) born to parents, James (a labourer) and Harriett (née Clifford) who had married in Solihull in 1875. One of the children – Alice Mary – didn’t survive infancy – being born and dying in 1878. A younger sister was born ten years later and named Alice Mary after her deceased sibling.
4th October 1917
Nine local men lost their lives on 4th October 1917 whilst on active service:
- Lance Corporal Edwin John Adams, 14th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
- Private Eric Ashley Ellis, 13th Company, Machine Gun Corps (Infantry)
- Sergeant Charles Haynes, 1st/5th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
- Second Lieutenant Albert Bertini Heywood, 10th Battalion, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
- Private Lewis James Knight, 30th Battalion, Australian Infantry
- Lance Corporal George Henry Pegg, 1st/6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
- Private William Savage, 1st Battalion, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry
- Private William Thomas Tropman, 1st/8th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
- Gunner Arthur Whinfrey, 256th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery
3rd October 1917
Private Keith Garraway Chatfield, 1st Battalion Australian Infantry, Australian Imperial Force, died on 3rd October 1917. We’re not absolutely sure that this is the same Keith Chatfield who is commemorated at Bickenhill, as there seems no obvious link. However, this is the only Keith Chatfield listed on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, and there doesn’t seem to be another Keith Chatfield mentioned in the local area.
2nd October 1917
27-year-old Driver Albert Neville Reeve lost his life on active service on 2nd October 1917, serving with the 3rd Division, Ammunition Column, Royal Field Artillery. He was the eldest of seven children and was born in Wollaston, Stourbridge in 1890. The family moved around, including Hartlebury, Wolverley, Sparkhill and Shirley, before settling in Golden End, Knowle sometime between 1906-1911.
1st October 1917
Private Frank Holland was killed in action on 1st October 1917 whilst serving with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Aged 36, he was the youngest of the nine children (four sons, five daughters) of parents James (a jeweller) and Hannah (nee Kiffin) who had married in 1859 and set up home in Aston and then in Handsworth.
29th September 1917
Two local men died on 29th September 1917 whilst on active service with the Royal Field Artillery. Corporal Harry Proctor, 94th Battery, 18th Brigade, died of wounds and Second Lieutenant Walter Sutton Rotherham MM, A Battery, 83rd Brigade, was killed in action.
26th September 1917
Second Lieutenant Roland Bushell, “A” Battery, 282nd Army Brigade, Royal Field Artillery died of wounds on 26th September 1917. Born in Handsworth in 1887, his local connection is that he is known to have lived for a short time in Alderbrook Road in 1913, and was a member of Copt Heath Golf Club. He was the only son of jewellery manufacturer, Herbert Bushell, and his wife, Agnes (née Davies) who had married in 1886. The couple also had two younger daughters, Eva (1890-1981) and Muriel Doris (1899-1998). As far as we know, this branch of the Bushell surname doesn’t seem to have been related to Mr Warin Foster Bushell, who was headmaster of Solihull School from 1921-1927.
21st September 1917
Three local men are recorded as having been killed on 21st September 1917, the second day of the Battle of Menin Road Ridge: Private Arthur Paget, 10th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment; Private William Skidmore, 8th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment; Lance Corporal Thomas Wells, 12th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment.
20th September 1917
Five local men were killed in action on 20th September 1917. This was the first day of the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge, which lasted until 25th September and marked a change in British infantry tactics.
Although previous attacks had penetrated the lightly-defended German front lines, exhausted troops then came under sustained counter-attack and failed to penetrate the second line. The new strategy was designed to attack a small part of the front line, first with heavy bombardment, and then by troops in strength under a creeping barrage 1000 yards deep, protecting the advancing infantry. Once through the lines and having reached their objectives, troops were then to stop and dig in. A second wave of infantry could then pass through to attack the next objective.
Local men who lost their lives in this action were:
- Private Richard Sydney Greaves, 6th Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment
- Private Thomas Henry Lloyd, 10th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment
- Sergeant Septimus Pryce, 6th Battalion, Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry
- Corporal Percy John Shirley, 10th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
- Sergeant Harry Taylor, 10th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment
Solihull Life 