Advertiser 18 Dec 1915 Advertiser 25 Dec 1915 BRIERLEY HILL SOLDIER’S DEATH. On Tuesday Private John Thomas Rowley, 1/5 S. Staffords, died in the Military Hospital, Wordsley, from diabetes. He was the son of Mr T Rowley, 37, Albion Street, Brierley Hill. The funeral is today at Brierley Hill Church. County Express 18 December 1915 • Read More »
Good news that Wordsley School are interested in helping to raise funds to restore Brierley Hill war memorial. But this raises questions about what conservation actually is and who should decide on the route to take.
Brierley Hill war memorial was unveiled on 12th November 1921 by Lord Ednam. This blog post contains the press cutting from the County Express describing that day. It also lists the names of those commemorated on the memorial – some names were added later.
On being honoured by Brierley Hill District Council in September 1917, Lance Corporal Stanley Harley modestly accepted a gift of a watch. He didn’t give a full story of his achievements though – this would have been a breech of duty given the secretive nature of war. A regimental history filled in the missing details.
Mapping the numbers of deaths against dates produces a graph which reminded me of a seismograph: highlighting some of the most awful days and an awful awful war. Two days in particular stand out – 21st March 1918, the start of the Spring Offensive and 13th October 1915. Both of these battles took a terrible toll of life. There is also a tale of a Brierley Hill hero.
An analysis of the 134 individuals identified on the war memorial illustrates the army’s policy of recruiting into locally based regiments. Almost three quarters of these casualties belonged to the South Staffordshire Regiment (41%) and the Worcestershire Regiment (31%).