21-year-old Second Lieutenant John Harrison died on 16th April 1917 serving with “C” Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Born on 8th November 1895 in Indianapolis, USA, he was the eldest of the seven children of parents John Arthur (an insurance broker) and Florence (née Garfield), who had married in 1894. An Old Silhillian, John Harrison had left Solihull Grammar School (Solihull House) in 1912, aged 17, and entered his father’s insurance broking business in Birmingham. Whilst at the school he was a non-commissioned officer in the Officer Training Corps (O.T.C.)
14th April 1917
Private William Paston, 2nd Battalion, Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry, was killed in action on 14th April 1917, aged 38. He was born in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire in 1880 and was the second of eight children (three sons, five daughters) born to parents, George (an agricultural labourer) and Ann (née Treadgold) who had married in 1876. All three boys were killed in the war.
11th April 1917
Four local men lost their lives on 11th April 1917 whilst serving in France: Lance Corporal William Henry Austin, 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment; Private Colin Clews, 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment; Private Albert Perks, 1st Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment; Private Arthur Henry Pool, 16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry (Manitoba Regt).
10th April 1917
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.
9th April 1917
Former Marston Green Cottage Homes residents, Samuel Richardson and Frederick Stevenson both died in France on Easter Monday, 9th April 1917, serving as Privates in the Armed Forces. Private Richardson was with the 78th Battalion Canadian Infantry, whilst Private Stevenson was serving with the 2/7th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Both men are commemorated on the Marston Green Cottage Homes war memorial.
29th March 1917
Two local men died on 29th March 1917 whilst serving with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Private Charles Henry Chamberlain, who was born in Temple Balsall, was serving with the 9th Battalion in Mesopotamia (Iraq), whilst Private William King, who was from Solihull, was serving with the 5th Battalion in France.
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).
15th March 1917
Old Silhillian Lance Corporal Sydney Vernon Pickering, aged 22, was killed in action on 15th March 1917, whilst serving with “C” Company, 12th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. Born in Moseley on 5th July 1894, he was the youngest of the two children of parents Frederick (a soap and candle manufacturer) and Emily (née Collins). His brother John Howard Pickering (1893-1985) also served in the First World War.
14th March 1917
Sergeant James Henry Carter, 31st Battalion Australian Infantry, died in France on 14th March 1917. He was born in Yardley in 1895, and was the eldest of the six children (four sons, two daughters) of parents James (a gardener) and Mary Elizabeth (née Moore) who had married in Aston in 1894.
11th March 1917
Sergeant Humphrey George Moseley, “D” Battery, 23rd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, was wounded in action in France on 2nd March 1917. He died at No. 6 General Hospital, Rouen, nine days later as a result of a gunshot wound to the head and thigh.
He was the eldest child and only son of parents George and Mary Ann (née Richards) who had married at Coleshill on 8th April 1890. The couple also had seven daughters: Ellen (born 1892); Bertha Mary (born 1894); Edith Annie (born 1895); Elsie Louisa (born 1897); Lilian Alice (born 1899); Blanche Fanny (born 1903); and Gladys May (born 1904).
Solihull Life 