Solihull War memorial by St Alphege Church.

If you take the small side road that goes past St Alphege Church in Solihull, then you will pass the Tall Solihull War Memorial. Originally unveiled on the 21st June 1921 by the Earl of Craven; the war memorial was moved a few meters in 1994 to allow for safer viewing and also restored in 2009. It now includes the First and Second World War as well as the Korean War.

This is the Solihull War Memorial and St Alphege Church in the 1960s.

This photograph was taken last week, end of May 2013.  There are 8 panels around the stepped memorial and here is the information on the first panel. The panels have been taken in an anti- clockwise fashion and are not in any order.

Royal Navy

LT Harry Fawdry RNAS
AB Francis Smitten RN

The Royal Warwickshire Regiment

Capt Guy L Boddington
Capt Stratford W Ludlow
Capt Clement Martineau
Lt John E Ratcliff.
Cpl William Harrison.
Cpl William E Smith.
Lt Cpl Edwin J Adams
Lt Cpl Thomas G Robinson ( may be a C as the middle initial)
Pte Matthew Barlow
Pte Roland H Burgess
Pte Joseph Beacham
Pte Albert Cooper
Pte Frederick P Cooper
Pte Cornelius Cull ( maybe Gull)
Pte Thomas Duffin
Pte Alfred H Gwinett
Pte Frank Holland
Pte Christopher James
Pte William King
Pte William E Lovegrove
Slc George H Minett
Pte Ernest W Neale
Pte Stuart O Nickson
Pte Arthur E Oakes
Pte Thomas Pacey
Pte Edwin C Silk
Pte Robert Smith
Pte Charles C Troman
Pte Henry Troman
Pte Tom Turner
Pte James S Wrench

Panel Two contains the following names:

World War 1939 - 45

Francis John D Allen
Gerald Astley
Alfred Bicknell
Peter Michael Blunt
Arnold Geoffrey Bocock
George Samuel Bragg
Vincent Stanley Bramley
Kenneth Rees Burbeck
William Hancox Burtenshaw
Wilfred Allen Buxcey
Samuel John Gallaway
James Hylton Stuart Cambell
David Howard Caulkin
Charles Alfred Chant
George Joseph Clayton
Frederick John Cockayne
Peter John Bamford Cook
Frank Valentine Coton
Hugh Scarlet Cull
Ronald Edward Deakin
James Brian Egan
Patrick Alexander Esson
Leslie George Everill

Samuel William Figgis
Gordon Allison Frase
Robert William Gooch
George Cruise Griffin
William Stanwell Griffiths

Panel three contains:

1914 - 1918

In eternal remembrance of the men of Solihull who went forth at the call of king and country to fight in the Great War. Manfully they faced hardship, danger, death itself, in the cause of liberty. The names of those who returned not again are here inscribed.
Their bodies are buried in peace and their names liveth unto generation and generation. Ecclus XLIVI4

Panel 4 contains the following:

In eternal remembrance of those who gave their lives in the World War 1939 - 45 and in the Korean War 1950s - 53.

The names and wording on panel 5 are as followed:

World War 1935 - 45

Arthur John Reynolds
Jack Richards
John Alfred Rolfe
Bernard Albert Rowledge
Cecil Francis Senter
Harry Shaw
Maurice Hurbert Sheward
Stanley Herbert Tatlow
Sidney Taylor
Cecil Edward Tipper
J E Turner
Richard Patrick Turner
Sidney Alfred Warner
Sidney Williams
Thoedore Norman Gerald Winning
Geoffrey Wragge
Dennis James Young
Frederick Young

Korean War 1950 - 53

David N Fellows
Robert Henry Smith

Names and information for panel 6 are as following:

Infantry

Capt Abraham Rose D of Corn Li
Pte Henry C Perkins S Staff R.
Cpl John Skelcher Oxf & Bucks Li.
Cpl Thomas C S Joiner Oxf & Bucks Li.
Pte Frank Baulcombe Oxf & Bucks Li
Pte Ernest Davis Oxf & Bucks Li
Pte Clark Middleton Oxf & Bucks Li
Cpl William H Britt R Berks R.
Pte Edward Bright R Berks R.
2nd Lt Albert B Heywood Yorks Li
CSM Sydney A Cocayne K R RIF C.
Cpl Claud P Wilks K R Rif C.
RIF John T Harrison K R Rif C POR.
Rif Leslie Wilson K R Rif C.
Pte Frederick C Baulcombe Wilts R.
2nd Lt Harold Beaufort N Staff R.
2nd Lt Horace B Jones N Staff R.
Pte Henry G Knight Durh Li
2nd Lt Ralp T Boddington London R.

RAMC MGC RASC RAF

Capt Charles M Bernays RAMC.
Capt Robert Jacobs RAMC
Serj  Thomas A Johnson MM RAMC
Pte Wilfred R Sutton RAMC
2nd Lt Horace Jackson MGC
Pte George E Houlston MGC 
Capt Edward R Harrison RASC
Dvr James Evans RASC
Pte Percy F Draycott RASC
Pte George T Oakes RASC
Lt Philip E Linder RAF.
Lt J Cecil Smith RAF.
2nd Lt James H Tremonini RAF ( difficult to read last name may be Cremonini)

Overseas Forces

Pte William T Badger Can Contgt.
Pte Frank E Harrison Can Sea Highrs.
Cpl Walter G Riggs New Brun R.

Panel 7 has the names and information on:

World War 1939 - 45

A A Guest
John Walter Hamp
Cyril Clement Hawkesford
William Haynes
Francis Edward Henson
Herbert Harold Holton
Maurice Arthur Frank Hirst
Robert Renwick Jackson
William David Jarratt
Gordon Hamilton Jeffries
Leslie Arthur Jeffries
Basil Eric Jeffreys
Peter Charles Johns
George Frederick Johnson
J Peter Keyte
William Kirkham
James Large
Charles Oliver Leech
Robert Lemon
William Henry Linguard
Leonard Mardon
John McIntyre
Henry James Morris
Cecil Edwin Nailer
Roy Shaw Norman
David Potts
Dennis Purslow
Jack Edward Ralph
Albert Leslie Raven

This is the final panel on Solihull War Memorial. Not the longest list that is on a memorial but more of that in a later blog.

Cavalry Artillery Engineers

Cpl W Reginald Finley L Gds
Tpr Cecil R Nickson 20th Hussars
Cpl Norman S Hurrell War Yeo
Sergt Humphrey G Moseley RFA
Cpl Frederick A Johnson RFA
Gnr William J Allen RFA
2nd Lt John S Wright RGA
Serg Thomas R Bradley RGA
Bombr Arthur J Berry MM RGA
Bombr A Birch Stowe RGA
2nd Lt Arthur C Ansell RE
Spr Daniel J Ferins RE
Pr Harry Blizzard RE
Pte Eric Stones RE

Infantry

L Cpl James U Hill C GDS.
Pte Albert H Britt C GDS.
Pte Ernest Clifford C GDS
Pte Edmund Dixon C GDS
Pte George Lindon E Kent R.
Lt Shepherd Stones North'd Fus
Pte W Thompson Walters R Fus
Sergt Henry Harrison L'Pool R
L Cpl Horace J Davis Devon R.
Pte Charles E Frost Som L I
Pte Philip Salt Yorks R.
Pte James Evans R W Fus
L Cpl  Sidney Britt S Wales Bord
Pte Charles Hill Glouc R
Pte William C Gardiner Glouc R
2nd Lt E Saxelby Pearce Worc R
L Cpl Thomas C Thompson Worc R
Pte Walter C Clarke Worc R
Pte Cyril Collett Worc R
Pte Shirley Coton Worc R
Pte Leonard Gillet Worc R

I am assuming that the panels without a date are from the First World War. So many names all killed in the course of this thing called war. Such a waste of lives. Still no Frederick Ward, my great uncle that was killed in the 1939 - 45 war. He lived on valley Road which is in the Parish of Elmdon, once in Sheldon and now in Solihull. But I still have not found his name on a local memorial. More memorials to come in later blogs.