Blitz casualties

[robind]

My mother lived on Waldron's Moor, Kings Norton during the Second World War and recounted a story to me years later that during an air raid, several people were killed by a bomb falling on or near them sheltering in a 'railway tunnel'. While visiting the area recently, I could find no tunnels for the railways on maps of the area nearby.
However, when getting from Allan's Croft to Fordhouse Lane, I accessed the pedestrian subway - a 'tunnel' as such under the railway (ringed in red on the map) and wondered if this was the location. I inspected both portals (photos) but could find no obviously repaired damage nor a plaque to those killed. Can anyone shed any light on this incident?

 

[Astoness]

hi and welcome..is this of any help...

lyn

Reginald Hands
Reginald Hands was killed on the 09 April 1940 at The Tunnel, Fordhouse Lane. Reginald was 17 years of age when this happened.

Additional Notes:

Address - 54 Waldron's Moor, Kings Heath

Relatives of Reginald:-
William (Father)
Clara (Mother)


also this one

Norman Whitworth
Norman Whitworth was injured on the 10 April 1941 at 347 Fordhouse Lane, Strichley. Norman subsequently died from his injuries at Lewis' Casualty Station on the 10 April 1941. Norman was 26 years of age when this happened.

Additional Notes:

Lived; 347 Fordhouse Lane, Stirchley Parents lived; 8 Rochester Terrace, Headingley, Leeds, Yorkshire Raid 54 - 10th/11th April 1941 - From Marjorie Ashby’s notes in ‘The Truth Must be Told’ by Alison Gove-Humphries Raid began at 10.08 p.m. Districts affected: Fort Dunlop and Castle Bromwich. 2 serious fires at Fort Dunlop and at Steel Constructors Limited. Fire at W. Canning and Co. was speedily brought under control. Several other minor incidents. Casualties slight. Birmingham Mail -Widespread across Smethwick, Winson Green, Handsworth, Gravelly Hill, Castle Bromwich, Sheldon, Birmingham Airport, Solihull Lodge.

Relatives of Norman:-
Ernest Whitworth (Father)
Late Mabel Whitworth (Mother)

 

[robind]

hi and welcome..is this of any help...

lyn

Reginald Hands
Reginald Hands was killed on the 09 April 1940 at The Tunnel, Fordhouse Lane. Reginald was 17 years of age when this happened.

Additional Notes:

Address - 54 Waldron's Moor, Kings Heath

Relatives of Reginald:-
William (Father)
Clara (Mother)


also this one

Norman Whitworth
Norman Whitworth was injured on the 10 April 1941 at 347 Fordhouse Lane, Strichley. Norman subsequently died from his injuries at Lewis' Casualty Station on the 10 April 1941. Norman was 26 years of age when this happened.

Additional Notes:

Lived; 347 Fordhouse Lane, Stirchley Parents lived; 8 Rochester Terrace, Headingley, Leeds, Yorkshire Raid 54 - 10th/11th April 1941 - From Marjorie Ashby’s notes in ‘The Truth Must be Told’ by Alison Gove-Humphries Raid began at 10.08 p.m. Districts affected: Fort Dunlop and Castle Bromwich. 2 serious fires at Fort Dunlop and at Steel Constructors Limited. Fire at W. Canning and Co. was speedily brought under control. Several other minor incidents. Casualties slight. Birmingham Mail -Widespread across Smethwick, Winson Green, Handsworth, Gravelly Hill, Castle Bromwich, Sheldon, Birmingham Airport, Solihull Lodge.

Relatives of Norman:-
Ernest Whitworth (Father)
Late Mabel Whitworth (Mother)

Lyn
Many thanks for your reply. My mum lived at 37 Waldron's Moor and was 16 at that date (my dad was at 45 but only his parents lived at Waldron's Moor in the war as he was in the RAF) so quite possibly they both would have known Reginald, although she never said as such to me in the telling of the story. She implied there were multiple or at least several casualties from the singular incident and although this is a very sad death for Reginald and for his family, perhaps she was referring to what might have been others who sustained injuries in the same incident. These raids and their seemingly random consequences cannot have been a pleasant experience for any civilian in the UK.

 

[Astoness]

hi robind well you mom was certainly correct..so far i can only find those 2 deaths but i will take another look to see if any casualties come up..will let you know if i find any

lyn

 

[robind]

hi robind well you mom was certainly correct..so far i can only find those 2 deaths but i will take another look to see if any casualties come up..will let you know if i find any

lyn

Thanks Lyn that would be appreciated.

 

[Godber]

Hello robind, the “Horseshoe Tunnel” as it is locally known has been discussed here https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/threads/horseshoe-tunnel.55578/#post-802251
I believe eleven people died when the bomb struck at the Allen’s Croft road end and some brickwork was subsequently repaired at the entrance.
I was more than a little surprised when I read your mom lived at number 37 during the War. I’m almost certain the girlfriend I mentioned in that post lived at that address in the mid ‘80s! It really is a very small world.

 

[robind]

Godber - many thanks for your lead on this. 'Horseshoe Tunnel' makes obvious sense when you look at it and the thread makes fascinating reading. Mum never mentioned that name, hence I couldn't search on that. This incident with the multiple casualties in a makeshift air raid shelter was almost certainly the episode to which my mum was referring. Mum's parents, Horace (Vic) and Marian Wright, moved from Springcroft Road to W/Moor when it was newly built in the late 20s/early 30s? Mum's brother and his family continued on there until the early 70s: I visited them with my parents once in the late 1960s. I hadn't been back, until two weeks ago. Small world indeed.

 

[Godber]

I’m glad it helped, robind. While talking to a chap I’ve worked with for several years I discovered he’d grown up just around the corner from me on Waldrons Moor, moving in sometime in the early ‘70s. I’ll find out what number he lived in and if it was 45 the world will not be small, but tiny.

 

[robind]

I’m glad it helped, robind. While talking to a chap I’ve worked with for several years I discovered he’d grown up just around the corner from me on Waldrons Moor, moving in sometime in the early ‘70s. I’ll find out what number he lived in and if it was 45 the world will not be small, but tiny.

Indeed Godber - it seems odd to me that my parents grew up only four doors apart. They were aware of each other but dad went into the RAF in 1937 at 16 (from KNBS) and then only really met up with mum in 1944/45 having been liberated from his escape to Switzerland. They married (Hazelwell Church) in 1947 and dad retired from the RAF in 1956. Attached are a picture of no 45 decked out by dad's parents for the Coronation of George VI, 1937 and also picture of the bowling green and allotments at the back of Waldron's Moor/Dawberry Fields. I managed to get into this area during my visit which is now a scrubland of undergrowth and stolen mopeds. Tiny world indeed for both my parent's families.

 

[Godber]

What tremendous pictures robind, thank you for sharing them and if you have any more of the area I’d love to see them, too! The allotments are so well tended and the whole thing looks wonderfully picturesque. They were still just about in use when I moved away from the area in ‘85 and it’s sad to see what’s become of them. Your father’s escape to Switzerland? Come on, you can’t dangle a carrot like that without telling us about it!

 

[robind]

Godber dad was apprenticed as engineer in RAF, posted to Takoradi during Battle of Britain to reassemble kit planes for the western desert, returned to UK in 1942 joined bomber command as Lancaster flight engineer. Came down in the Ardennes on way back from 57th op to Mannheim September 1943. Picked up by Resistance, he was helped across the border into Switzerland where he stayed til the Americans retook southern France in 1944. All survived the burning plane destruction: six of the seven 'evaded' capture and all survived til their last reunion in 1981. Here they are three months before they 'failed to return'. On a 4000lb bomb, that's him on far right.

 

[robind]

Godber: Dad's dad on left. 1935, behind W/Moor. He was member of the bowling club for many years - and had one of those allotments.

 

[robind]

Dad, Boys Brigade. Back of 45. 1935

 

[Godber]

robind, those really are terrific pictures, thank you so much for sharing them. What an amazing wartime tale, the picture of him and his pals sat on that “Cookie” is fantastic! I never knew there was once a bowling green on the allotments, I wonder how long it lasted? Again, many thanks.

 

[robind]

Godber you can just see the bowling green in the picture I posted of the allotments. It was right behind the houses. It was called "The Dell" Bowling Club. I don't know what happened to it as dad's parents moved by the end of the war to Staffordshire. 004 is my dad bowling. 006 his dad bending over, second from right. 002 grandfather second from right. 005 Fantastic lily pond: no traces of it when I explored.
That cookie was delivered to the Breda & Pirelli factory in Milan a few days later.

 

[Godber]

Honestly robind, I find these pictures absolutely fascinating. Though I haven’t lived in that area for 40 years I still think of it as home and always greatly appreciate any information and memories people have of the place. I’m genuinely surprised just how nice it was back then, your relatives and the people in those pictures must’ve put a lot of hard work into establishing and maintaining the allotment, pond and bowling green, and all done at a time when the working week was longer and harder and people were poorer. They look happy and proud in those pictures and rightly so. It was a bit tired looking around that area by the 70/80s and now, well…
Sometimes I wonder if this progress thing is all it’s cracked up to be.

 

[robind]

Godber yes, I wondered what my parents would make of the area now, particularly that area at the back towards Dawberry Fields. I have never lived in Birmingham: born and raised in Cheltenham. One of dad's last postings in UK was RAF Dowdeswell Court (Chaplains Dept) and when he retired from the RAF, he got a job with Dowty Fuel Systems in Cheltenham so they settled there. I was taken to Birmingham a few times when small but my recollections of it are sketchy at best. I recall so many of the names they used to say of places/roads around Kings Heath/Kings Norton etc it felt like I knew them all. We visited one of dad's cousins near Pebble Mill a few times in my teen years but until my tour this mid November, most of my family history came from all the photos and documents they left when they passed away in 2004 and 2005. I didn't really start seriously looking at them - til lockdown. I have lived near the border with Scotland for many years now so my reasons/excuses to visit Birmingham have been few and far between.

 

[Godber]

Godber yes, I wondered what my parents would make of the area now, particularly that area at the back towards Dawberry Fields. I have never lived in Birmingham: born and raised in Cheltenham. One of dad's last postings in UK was RAF Dowdeswell Court (Chaplains Dept) and when he retired from the RAF, he got a job with Dowty Fuel Systems in Cheltenham so they settled there. I was taken to Birmingham a few times when small but my recollections of it are sketchy at best. I recall so many of the names they used to say of places/roads around Kings Heath/Kings Norton etc it felt like I knew them all. We visited one of dad's cousins near Pebble Mill a few times in my teen years but until my tour this mid November, most of my family history came from all the photos and documents they left when they passed away in 2004 and 2005. I didn't really start seriously looking at them - til lockdown. I have lived near the border with Scotland for many years now so my reasons/excuses to visit Birmingham have been few and far between.

Well you’re certainly in best place if you need identification or clarification of photographs and events etc. The members here are remarkable at being able to help others in that regard and not much eludes their collective memory.

 

[robind]

I can see that Godber and thank you: I am pleased that I found/joined the forum. I do indeed have more small puzzles about various pictures and family members where I will need some assistance. I wasn't sure when I posted this one whether I would get any help!
Do you think that the names of the 11 people killed will be recorded somewhere? It seems odd that a remembrance plaque hasn't been placed by the Horseshoe Tunnel, even high up the wall to avoid vandalism.

 

[Astoness]

I can see that Godber and thank you: I am pleased that I found/joined the forum. I do indeed have more small puzzles about various pictures and family members where I will need some assistance. I wasn't sure when I posted this one whether I would get any help!
Do you think that the names of the 11 people killed will be recorded somewhere? It seems odd that a remembrance plaque hasn't been placed by the Horseshoe Tunnel, even high up the wall to avoid vandalism.

hi robind...all of the civilian dead are remembered in birmingham city centre...their names are on the tree of life memorial near the old bull ring..there are 2421 names on it...you may find this link useful..i have 2 family members on it

lyn

Tree of Life

Other sculpture

www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk

 

[robind]

Godber: further to the history of the bowling green/ pond behind Waldron's Moor, here are some OS maps for you, showing them in relation to 37 and 45. In the 1937 map, I'm sure that oval is the pond but I'm not sure why that map doesn't show the bowling green? At least we can see that the bowling green was still by place 1956-7 - but whether the club was still in existence then and using it?

 

[pjmburns]

Lyn beat me to it posting the Tree of Life.

The 2 names she listed in post #2 are inscribed

 

[robind]

hi robind...all of the civilian dead are remembered in birmingham city centre...their names are on the tree of life memorial near the old bull ring..there are 2421 names on it...you may find this link useful..i have 2 family members on it

lyn

Tree of Life

Other sculpture

www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk

Lyn I wish that I had known about that during my recent visit. I was staying in Aston for a conference at the Exchange and Radisson Hilton. What a beautiful monument and an excellent tribute. I am sure that you can be proud of it for your own personal attachments.
I can't see it that clearly but do the inscriptions give the dates of their deaths? I am wondering if, like the Tunnel, names on the monument can be linked to particular raids/nights of the blitz(es)?

 

[pjmburns]

The inscriptions are just names.

 

[Astoness]

Lyn I wish that I had known about that during my recent visit. I was staying in Aston for a conference at the Exchange and Radisson Hilton. What a beautiful monument and an excellent tribute. I am sure that you can be proud of it for your own personal attachments.
I can't see it that clearly but do the inscriptions give the dates of their deaths? I am wondering if, like the Tunnel, names on the monument can be linked to particular raids/nights of the blitz(es)?

for dates of injury or death you need the BARRA site..here is the link to it..i have left it on the page for my harrington rellies who died and if you click on where it says view you also get some more info..hope this helps

lyn

https://database.birminghamairraids.co.uk/results/

 

[Astoness]

Lyn I wish that I had known about that during my recent visit. I was staying in Aston for a conference at the Exchange and Radisson Hilton. What a beautiful monument and an excellent tribute. I am sure that you can be proud of it for your own personal attachments.
I can't see it that clearly but do the inscriptions give the dates of their deaths? I am wondering if, like the Tunnel, names on the monument can be linked to particular raids/nights of the blitz(es)?

if you go back to this link and click on the 4 sides of the memorial it should enlarge so that you can read all of the names

lyn

Birmingham - The Tree of Life

 

[Godber]

Godber: further to the history of the bowling green/ pond behind Waldron's Moor, here are some OS maps for you, showing them in relation to 37 and 45.

robind, unfortunately I am very much a casual visitor to this site and others here are far more capable of helping you find those names, but knowing that tunnel as I do I can barely begin to imagine how terrifying it must have been for them. It’s sad but I’m not really surprised there isn’t a plaque. I suppose at the time they were just more war dead among many others, after the war people wanted to forget, and now few people care if truth be told.
Thank you for those OS maps. I never ventured into the allotments as a kid and they were fenced off if I recall correctly, but a look on Google Earth shows what looks like a pond in the exact position marked on the map. It’s surrounded by greenery so perhaps it would be easy to miss from the ground if you didn’t know it was there.

 

[robind]

Done that now Lyn - thanks: can see and read the names as you say

robind, unfortunately I am very much a casual visitor to this site and others here are far more capable of helping you find those names, but knowing that tunnel as I do I can barely begin to imagine how terrifying it must have been for them. It’s sad but I’m not really surprised there isn’t a plaque. I suppose at the time they were just more war dead among many others, after the war people wanted to forget, and now few people care if truth be told.
Thank you for those OS maps. I never ventured into the allotments as a kid and they were fenced off if I recall correctly, but a look on Google Earth shows what looks like a pond in the exact position marked on the map. It’s surrounded by greenery so perhaps it would be easy to miss from the ground if you didn’t know it was there.

Godber I think that you are correct - perhaps only relatives searching family history will care. fortunately, none of my families were casualties in those grim years. My mum was 17 in 1941 and to have bombs exploding barely 350 yards from your home cannot have been a positive experience at all.
I see what you mean about the pond. The grey, twisting line going up the picture to between 53 and 55 is currently a high fence and that precluded me from exploring the area to its left. I could only get into the area to the right - although both sides looked equally unkempt and difficult to visualize properly. Sad that it's all been lost from what it once was.

 

[Godber]

Done that now Lyn - thanks: can see and read the names as you say

Godber I think that you are correct - perhaps only relatives searching family history will care. fortunately, none of my families were casualties in those grim years. My mum was 17 in 1941 and to have bombs exploding barely 350 yards from your home cannot have been a positive experience at all.
I see what you mean about the pond. The grey, twisting line going up the picture to between 53 and 55 is currently a high fence and that precluded me from exploring the area to its left. I could only get into the area to the right - although both sides looked equally unkempt and difficult to visualize properly. Sad that it's all been lost from what it once was.

robind, I still visit the area occasionally and if possible next time I’ll get some photos of the pond and what used to be the bowling green. The last time I was there I bought roe and chips from the chippy at the top Allens Croft Road, then drove to Shalnecote Grove intending to sit at the top of Dawberry Fields with my wife to eat them in the sunshine. When I arrived it was badly overgrown and looked a mess, yet even in the ‘70s and ‘80s it was properly maintained. It seems these days you really don’t get what you pay for.

 

[robind]

That would be good. I wasn't sure I would get any access at all to that area as there is a formidable fence parallel with the path up through Dawberry Fields from the Allenscroft Primary School. But there is a break higher up - a wooden overlap fence/gateway that allows access but where there was rubbish and an abandoned moped. I tried later to get back through to W/Moor via Harton Way obviously without success. Realize now I should have continued to Dawberry Flds Rd then Dawberry Rd!