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Joan, Gertrude May Russell (decd)

Old Boy

master brummie
Hi All,
Whilst browsing the BARRA website I came upon the following. Joan Gertrude May Russell, aged 14 years was killed during an air raid on 19 November 1940. She was on King Edward Sports Ground at the time. No other person is recorded as killed or injured at that location. She lived in Holte Road, Aston which, of course, is not far from Trinity Road. I wonder what a 14 year old girl was doing alone on a sports field during the heaviest raid of the war. We may never know unless someone still alive knows and is prepared to tell us the story. In any event I hope that the poor girl has rested in peace.
Old Boy.
 
Intriguingly there is another Russell on the BARRA site - Arthur J (killed in a different place - no known relatives) but on the 1939 electoral roll an Arthur James Russell is listed at 90 Holte Road! Is/was there a connection?
Janice
 
old boy i often go on the BARRA site 2 of my rellies died in the bombings..husband and wife in their 50s that is sad enough but i think to date the saddest i have read is of the astle family...type in guildford st it is just off paddington st where our nan lived and i was born...3 generations of the astle family wiped out...a total of 8 died...2 adults which i assume was the mother and grandmother and 6 children ...there is a very good chance that the father was away fighting...if this was the case i just dont want to imagine the heartbreak he must have come back to...always assuming he did...

lyn
 
Intriguingly there is another Russell on the BARRA site - Arthur J (killed in a different place - no known relatives) but on the 1939 electoral roll an Arthur James Russell is listed at 90 Holte Road! Is/was there a connection?
Janice
Hello Janice,
Yes, poor Joan lived at 90 Holte Road, Aston. Her father was Arthur James Russell and her mother Winifred. I do not know if she had any siblings.
Chris Beresford (Old Boy)
 
That means it looks as if he died on the same night. Perhaps she was trying to reach him?
Janice
 
That means it looks as if he died on the same night. Perhaps she was trying to reach him?
Janice
Hi All,
I am certain that the Arthur J Russell on the BARRA site was not Joans father. I feel that she may have been out and was taking a short cut across the sports field. There may well been other explanations of course. I am reintroducing this as I note that GGJean has returned. She grew up in Holte Road and it is possible that she knew the Russell family and perhaps the story behind this incident.
Chris Beresford (Old Boy)
 
Hello Janice,
Yes, poor Joan lived at 90 Holte Road, Aston. Her father was Arthur James Russell and her mother Winifred. I do not know if she had any siblings.
Chris Beresford (Old Boy)
Hi Oldboy.

Joan's mother was Winifred V Wakem and they were married in Devonport 1923 before moving to Birmingham.

Regards Ray
 
Hi everyone. I have information relating to Joan GM Russell.
Joan was a friend of my mother Barbara Richards at the time and they worked at Higgs Motors in Witton. They were walking home on the evening of the 19thNovember 1940 when the sirens went off. They decided to visit the soldiers manning the Barrage Balloon site on King Edwards Sports Ground in Trinity Road.
The pavilion took a direct hit killing all except my mother who was discovered 36 hours later and taken to Highcroft hospital which was a casualty clearing site. Joan was killed instantly along with a Corporal Francis George Giles and the other men stationed at the site. The only other survivor of the bomb was a Jeffrey Sharp who was blown clear through the roof and was discovered unconscious but alive some distance away.
I understand that the family in the house adjoining the sports ground were also killed but I haven't confirmed this.
Joan's Mother Arthur, and Winifred (Wakem) had two more sons Denis J Russell bn mar 1930 and Desmond J born Sept 1931.
I hope this helps
Cheers
Colin Richards
 
Hi everyone. I have information relating to Joan GM Russell.
Joan was a friend of my mother Barbara Richards at the time and they worked at Higgs Motors in Witton. They were walking home on the evening of the 19thNovember 1940 when the sirens went off. They decided to visit the soldiers manning the Barrage Balloon site on King Edwards Sports Ground in Trinity Road.
The pavilion took a direct hit killing all except my mother who was discovered 36 hours later and taken to Highcroft hospital which was a casualty clearing site. Joan was killed instantly along with a Corporal Francis George Giles and the other men stationed at the site. The only other survivor of the bomb was a Jeffrey Sharp who was blown clear through the roof and was discovered unconscious but alive some distance away.
I understand that the family in the house adjoining the sports ground were also killed but I haven't confirmed this.
Joan's Mother Arthur, and Winifred (Wakem) had two more sons Denis J Russell bn mar 1930 and Desmond J born Sept 1931.

Hi Colin,
Welcome aboard. Thank you very much for this information. I see that Francis George Giles is listed on the BARRA site but no mention of where he died. There are a number of similar entries who were probably Corporal Giles Colleagues. It seems that if servicemen, on duty, were killed or injured in air raids only their names would be published. I could find no casualties listed who had died in Trinity Road or any of the nearby roads so perhaps the information respecting the family in the adjoining house is incorrect. Let us hope so anyway.

Although it is very sad for those involved I am some how pleased to know that Joan did not die alone. I hope that your mother Barbara fully recovered and has had a meaningful life ever since. It is a terrible memory she has had to bear. Thank you again.
Chris Beresford (Old Boy)
 
Hi All,
I seem to have messed it up again but if you click on "expand" on my last post you will see my full reply.
Old Boy
 
old boy i often go on the BARRA site 2 of my rellies died in the bombings..husband and wife in their 50s that is sad enough but i think to date the saddest i have read is of the astle family...type in guildford st it is just off paddington st where our nan lived and i was born...3 generations of the astle family wiped out...a total of 8 died...2 adults which i assume was the mother and grandmother and 6 children ...there is a very good chance that the father was away fighting...if this was the case i just dont want to imagine the heartbreak he must have come back to...always assuming he did...

lyn

just going back to this post where i said that maybe mr astle was away fighting when his house was bombed....i have recently found out that mr astle was pulled out of the wreckage alive only to find out that his wife...his mother and all 6 of his young children had perished...how on earth did he cope with that loss....

lyn
 
Lyn - I was going to click "like" but that is not the right word in this case. I like the fact you have found out but as you say so very sad. People just coped somehow. Wonder what happened to him later.
 
yes i know what you mean janice its not the sort of info we click like to really...i found out about mr astle in the book heroes of the birmingham air raids..its about how the services risked their own lives to try to save others...having read many reports about the bombings and loss of life this one always sticks in my mind...my mom who was about 12 at the time talked about the nearby bombings and only lived a few yards away from this particular tragedy...as for mr astle i also wonder did he really cope with his awful loss...
 
janice just for completion here is a map showing the raid on the astles house in guildford st...nan and mom were in paddington st which as you can see was so close

bomb map 3.jpg
 
its there now janice...file too large so i had to shrink it..should enlarge if you click on it twice
 
yes very lucky janice as they lived at the guildford st end of paddngton st..at 4/12
 
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