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Aston and Nechells ? National Roll of the Great War

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O.C.

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The Birmingham National Rolls of the Great War 1914-1918 did the men of Aston and Nechells a great injustice; out of over 6000 names listed only a hand full came from Aston and Nechells.
My Father joined up with over 126 men from two streets, only my father and another chap came back. None of their names are listed
The reason being is to have your name entered in the book you had to pay 10 pennies a line so the rich went in and the poor stayed out.
It is not till I was doing research that this pattern begin to emerge which is sad for the relative on the history trail of the men of Aston and Nechells but great in the areas of Handsworth, Bordesley Green, Hockley etc.
But saying that someone had to put rolls in the books and they would not have been done at all if the people had not been charged.
The same thing happened with the gravestones in the Commonwealth War Graves if you could pay you could have a few words put on the bottom of the gravestone if you could not pay nothing was put on. So the poor were discriminated again.
If we could only alter things and put the record straight.
 
After receiving a letter yesterday from a member of the Western Front Association which was a reply to a letter I wrote about the Great War Rolls Birmingham I have been informed that nobody from the Aston or Nechells areas were put in, if they were, they were put in by people outside the area’s of Nechells and Aston.
So it puts a whole new slant on the Rolls of Birmingham with the men of Aston and Nechells missing which is very sad
So I was wrong in the above letter. But Why were they left out?  Can someone give me a good reason?
 
Cromwell.  In my researching l found the firm of GOLD in Love Lane and a Memorial Scroll of that firm listing former employees who joined up in the Great War as it was known then.
Below are the names taken from the Schroll of Gold & Co.  Love Lane,

J.    DAY.                   8 th Royal Berks.
W.  SHAW.                2/7 th Worcestershire Regt.
S.   WORRALL.            8 th D.C.L.I.
J.    MUSTIN.              1 st South Staffs.  
W.  CONNELL.             1/6 R. Warwick Regt
H.   STOKES.               8 th R. Warwick Regt.
W.  ADAMS.                2 nd Worcestershire Regt.    ( Killed in action )
G.   GORDON.              9 th Rifle Brigade.
W.  CARRINGTON.        8 th South Staffs.
C.    SIMKINS.              K. R. R.                               ( Died on Service )
W.   DAY.                   Staffordshire Regt.
C.    SMITH.                7 th Glostcester Regt.
J.     GOLDSBURY.        1 st South Staffs.
W.    BREWER.             Royal Engineers.
J.      SMITH.               Leicester Regt.
G.      WHITTEN.          R.F.A.
A. W. CLARK.               R.A.M.C.
T. C.  WHITEHOUSE.     Royal Berks.
H.      VINCENT.            8 th Somerset L.I.
B.      BASHFORD.          53 rd Warwick Regt.
T. W. FELLOWS.            2 nd City Bn.

This information is as it reads from the schroll at the time.
 
Ernie
A Great bit of research, where did this list come from and did you know the WFA are trying to catalogue
every memorial tablet,scroll etc. in the country ?
just by looking at that list it show that the men of the midlands went into any regiment not just the Warcs.or Staffs
As I said in the first posting the Aston and Nechells men were done a great injustice by being left out of the Roll of Honour Book of Brum
 
Cromwell. Trying to research a little further,it appears that from C.W.G.C. Records some of the parents of soldiers lived in various parts of the country. Not sure if it was left to parents to notify the authorities of their loss to be included on the Birmingham Roll Of Honour. GOLD & CO, Swan Hinge Works, Love Lane states on the Roll Of Honour that the names are " List of Men who joined the H. M. Forces" l beleive that not all were Casualties Of War.
Central Library, 6 th Floor, Local History, hold records of Local Firms " Roll Of Honour" There are also as you know Cromwell, lists of Soldiers in Local Newspapers of the time, some of which are B'Ham Weekly Post, B'Ham Mail, B'Ham Gazette,Weekly Mercrury, and Evening Despatch l have yet to check to see if there are more.
 
This is the " Roll Of Honour" of The Fred'k Crane Chemical Co., Ltd. Armoury Close, Bordesley Green, Birmingham. List of Men who joined H.M.Forces.
W. BLONDON.
F. GILLETT.
M. GALVIN.
C. HUCKSTEPP. ( Royal Field Artillery )
A. JACKSON. ( Navy )
C.L. MOORE. ( Royal Warwickshire Voll. Batt. )
J.M. PEEVOR. ( 14 th Royal Warwickshire.)
A. PUGH.
H. REYNOLDS. ( Motor Transport.)
P. RAVENHILL. ( Killed in Action. )
J. SWASH. ( 6 th Royal Warwickshire.)
F. SPICER.
 
CROMWELL.  What does WFA stand for ?
                   l believe there is an organisation in Belgium appealing for Photographs
                   of soldiers that are Buried or Commemorated in Cemeteries there.
 
Cannot see the Modify button to alter the above message.
W. F. A.   l now see is Western Front Association
 
Cromwell did you see the recent programme fronted by Ian Hislop regarding the war memorials of this country, some 37,000 I believe.
One such was shown at King Edward's Grammar School, Frederick Road, Aston. If you were not aware of it, I am sure they would allow you accesss if you asked permission.
 
I did Sylvia one of the nicest I have seen was last year at Handsworth Grammar in the School Hall. its a big stained Glass window, we did a talk on the Great War for the pupils which went down well
 
Ernie you will have to forgive me me for not replying to postings sooner My internet Server for my E-Mails
Crashed yesterday so having a hard job following up to repies posted but will get ther in the end
Regarding the Roll of Honour what I am Talking about it is

The National Roll Of The Great War 1914-1918 Section V1 Birmingham
15 volumes in the set
(all at the Library)

Section V1.............. has missed out Nechells and Aston Alltogether
 
Cromwell. l did not know about those so l shall certainly take a look at them next time l am over there. Hope l did not send you any bugs with my message.
 
Ernie Dont take everything it says in the Honour Rolls as the truth
A few years back I placed an article in the Sunday Mercury wanting info on "B'ham men in the Great War" for a book I was involved in and had a great resonse with photo's info etc which nearly all went in the book.
I had one couple say their uncle had won the MM and was this and that, so I asked them were did they get the info from ? Which they replied The National Roll of Honour Book (Birmingham V1)
and they showed me his medals. The chaps medals had been tampered with and Re-engraved so were fake and when I checked all his details he had won no awards and was an ordinary private so while he was alive he must have been stringing someone along.
This couple (got on a line) quiet mad with me and told me I did not know what I was talking about.
So I told them to go to Kew and checks the Data base their or if they could not, to hire a researcher who could do it for them. So they did, saying on parting They would prove me WRONG
I never saw them again, which was sad.
I started to delve into where the info had come from for the Books and was suprised at what I found
anyone could put what they liked as long as they paid for it to go in the books.
I would go as far as to say 99% of the info is true but some of the entries you have to smile at.
 
l had read somewhere that because there was such an enormous response to the call to arms and the belief that the war would be over by Christmas, men had gone into other Regiments as they got impatient and joined up in other Regiments other than their local one so that they did not "miss out" before the war was ended by Christmas. 
 
Cromwell. iI think there is a Roll of Honour in Aston church. You probably know of it, but just in case. :)
 
Thanks Di I do know as their is the memorial to the Warwicks their as well and I pay my respect's every year
 
it does seem strange that it doesn't include men from aston/nechells area, but includes men from smethwick!
 
Enochb, I have since found out that Aston and Nechells was the area that was going to be covered when the project was stopped, for one reason or another as it was private enterprise that started the whole project so the books went ahead as Roll of Honour of Birmingham without Aston and Nechells men in them which was a crying shame.
 
O0 Hi Cromwell. My Father Charles Williams served in ww1, he ended up a pow after being gassed. He married my Mother in 1918 and on their wedding certificate he is listed as Rifleman z.47 8th Rifle Brigade. what looks like a z to me could be wrong it is'nt a capital letter. I belive you hold a lot of information on ww1 and i wondered if you held any thing about my Dad. Regards Williams
 
Williams, Got nothing on your dad but I can tell you a bit of were he was on the Somme.
Do you know when he was taken POW ?
The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consorts Own) 8th Service Battalion was in the 41st Brigade
Have you been to the Somme?
 
O0Hello again Cromwell   Yes i did know he was taken prisoner. I know very little about what happened to him and his fellow Soldiers. I would love to hear   anything you know about his Regiment, i didnt know he was captured on the Somme. I've Only been to Belgium once in the 60s and that was a business trip, at that time i did'nt give ww1 a thought. My Dad died in 1940 with chest problems, probably brought on by the Mustard Gas poisoning he was just 44. regards Williams
 
Williams The 8th Battalion arrived on the Somme July
Left Rullecourt for Barly 29th July arrived Candas 31st and at Buire-sur-Ancre 8th Aug then they went through Dernacourt,Meaulte and Montabuan and took over trenches near Delville Wood on 19thAug
The assisted during an attack on Delville Wood on 24th then marched through Le Fray and got a train to Dernacourt 11thSept, back to Delville Wood 15th Sept. Attacked towards Flers.....with heavy casualties from a machine gun at Bulls Rd, Lt Col Morris mortally wounded and all officers wounded exept one
294 casualties, marched back to Montauban Alley 16th set up camp near Allbert 17th.....Grand -Rullecourt 25th Sept.
 
:( Thank you for that information Cromwell, It's a wonder they had time to do any fighting with all that moving about. Were the men who were captured sent to pow camps in Germany ?
 
Williams at this point in time I won't be posting any POW pics as I am doing to many other things and would all have to be sorted, most of the other stuff I have on disc which is easy to find
 
I have the book of The Birmingham Roll Of Honor and was very disapointed not to find my husbands grandfather John Charles Pockett but now I know why. He was an Aston postman and lost his life at the Somme. I have sent his photo to your Aston site but have come across this one, John is second left front row. He was in the Kings Royal Rifles, his records are lost when I asked at Kew they said only one in three survive. I have his medal card these can now be obtained on line from acess to archives for a fee.
My family have visited Johns grave at Sierra Road no2 Cemetery this was a very emotional experience my son who was in his 20's cried openly.
John_Charles_Pockett_28229.jpg
 
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