BIRMINGHAM GREAT WAR TIMELINE
Some dates are not exact but refer to the month in which an event occurred. All those with unfamiliar names are detailed in ‘Birmingham 1914-1918; a Great War Trail’
1914
August 3. The three Birmingham Territorial battalions arrive back at Snow Hill Station from their annual camp in Rhyl
August 6. William Bowater to take over as Lord Mayor so Colonel Martineau can join his regiment
August 6. Able Seamen Victor McKey and Willim Nicholas – first Birmingham servicemen to be killed when HMS Amphion was hit by a mine
August 7. First c50 Germans register with the police as enemy aliens
August 9. HMS Birmingham sinks a German submarine
August 12. 1st Southern General Hospital mobilised at the University
August 18. Lady Mayoress Depot established in Broad Street Chambers
August 26. Captain Henry Clutterbuck – in France first Birmingham officer killed in action
August 28. Birmingham Post editorial advocates formation of a City Battalion
August 29. Lord Mayor Bowater contacts Lord Kitchener and offers to form a City Battalion
September 1. First convoy of wounded arrive at the 1st Southern General Hospital from Moor Street Station
September 3. No 44, Islington Row becomes HQ of the Birmingham War Refugees Fund
September 4. First Belgian refugees arrive
September 5. Anti-German riot at Harry Styles’ pork butcher’s shop in Ladypool Road
September 7. Art Gallery Extension opened as a special recruiting office for the City Battalions
September 7. Snow Hill Station rest station opened
September 9. Harrison Barrow withdraws as the next Lord Mayor because of his anti-war views
September 9. Charles Carrington join the 1st City Battalion
October 5. The 1st City Battalion arrives at Sutton Park
October 26. Curzon Hall opened as a recruiting centre
October 26. A separate base for the Lady Mayoress Depot opened in Great Charles Street to organise garments for civilian distress
November 18 First patient admitted to Hill Crest, Richmond Hill Road
1915
January 26 Death of Vernon Austin, son of Herbert
February. William Mills designs his first hand grenade – the ‘Mills’ bomb
March 13. The three city battalions are inspected at Calthorpe Park by General Campbell
March 22. The three city Territorial battalions cross to France
April 17. The 3rd City Battalion leaves Spring Hill College for Malvern
April 22. A ‘Serbian relief’ is held in the Town Hall by the Women’ Volunteer Reserve
May 9. The Birmingham Daily Post publishes Edward Barry’s experiences as a Lusitania survivor
May 10. Dudley Road Poor Law Infirmary takes its first wounded patients
May 11. Lt Colonel Ernest Martineau forced home from the 1/6th Warwicks in France as a result of illness
May 14. Anti-German attack on a ‘Danish’ run restaurant of Mr Sackfeldt, ‘John’s Fish Restaurant’, High Street
May 14. Lady Mayoress Depot forms a POW Sub-Committee to organise parcels
May 15. Lordswood opens as an auxiliary hospital
May 20. The ‘Brummie Germans’ present a loyal memorial to the Lord Mayor after the sinking of the Lusitania
May 28 Highbury given by Austen Chamberlain opened as a military hospital
June 1.Extraction of toluene, an ingredient of TNT, begins at Nechells Gas Works
June 2. Italian ‘colony’ celebrates Italian entry into the war in Victoria Square
June 26. Over 50 German males escorted from Steelhouse Lane Police Station to New Street and a train to a camp in Cheshire
June 28 and July 3. Second Lieutenant Herbert James wins Birmingham’s first VC whilst serving in the 4/Worcs at Gallipoli
July 5. First patients arrive at Hollymoor Hospital, the 2nd Birmingham War Hospital
July 22. King George V arrives at New Street Station for his two day visit. Visits BSA. 1st Southern General Hospital, Metropolitan Carriage works, Kings Norton Metal Co etc.
July 30. First patients arrive at Rubery Hill Hospital, the 1st Birmingham War Hospital
July 31. Reverend Gertrude von Petzold, minister of Waverley Road Church, is deported
August 4. Birmingham Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Club opened in Newton Street by the Earl of Neath
August 9. Lieutenant William Slim of the 9th Warwicks wounded at Gallipoli and evacuated back to England
August 19. Death of Professor Henri Chatelain in the French Army. Formerly of the French Dept at Birmingham University
August 4. The Bishop of Birmingham presides over a church parade at the 1st Southern General Hospital on the anniversary of the start of the war
September 14. 2nd Lt Raymond Lodge, son of Sir Oliver Lodge, killed in the Ypres Salient
September 14. Times article by the Bishop of Birmingham following his visit to the Front
September 26. Arthur Vickers, 2nd Warwicks, wins the VC at Loos
October 2. Large march past, organised by Colonel Charles Hart, in front of the Lord Mayor as part of a national recruitment initiative
October 5. Colmore Road Council School opens as a war hospital
October 16 and 30. Birmingham City play the 17th Middlesex, the ‘footballers’ battalion
November 21. The three City Battalions cross to France
December 1. The Beeches, lent by George Cadbury, opens as an auxiliary hospital
December 30. Dr Elizabeth Impey dies in torpedo attack off Crete
1916
January. First issue of ‘The Southern Cross’, the in house journal of the 1st Southern General Hospital
January. Harborne Hall, loaned by Walter Chamberlain, opens as a VAD Auxiliary Hospital
January 1. Allerton, Lichfield Road, Sutton Coldfield opens as a VAD hospital
February 14. The Belgian school opens
February. The National Shell Factory at Washwood Heath begins production
April 20. 2nd Lieutenant Charles Lander, 10th Warwicks and a diarist, arrives in France
May 21. The three 2nd Line Territorials cross to France
June 3 J.R.R Tolkien and his wife Edith stay at the Plough and Harrow just before he leaves for the front
June 13. Bishop of Birmingham presides over a memorial service for Lord Kitchener at the 1st Southern General Hospital
July 1. Death of Lt R.Q Gilson, son of the headmaster of King Edward’s
July 1. Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Innes, CO of the 1/8 Warwicks, killed
July 1. Captain Stratford Ludlow, 1/8th Warwicks, killed on the Somme
July 1.Second Lieutenant Henry Lionel Field, 1/6th Warwicks, killed on the Somme
July 3. Moor Green House opened as an auxiliary hospital
July 3. Death of Captain Henry Lynn Shaw, city councillor, in the 10th Warwicks on the Somme
July 3. George Turrall wins the VC in the 10th Worcs at La Boiselle
July 19. Death of Lance Sergeant Horace Hadley – first Quinton man
July 22. Percy Jeeves, the Warwickshire cricketer, 15th Royal Warwicks, killed on the Somme
July 22. Private A.G Earp, 1/5th Warwicks, shot at dawn
July 27. Albert Gill, 1/Kings Royal Rifle Corps, wins the VC at Delville Wood
July 28. Major Buckley, 17th Middlesex, the Footballers Battalion, wounded on the Somme and was later treated at the 1st Southern General Hospital
August 7. Private Tommy Barber seriously wounded on the Somme in the Footballers’ Battalion. He had previously played for Aston Villa
August 8. Private William Gerrish killed on the Somme in the Footballer’s Battalion. He had previously played for Aston Villa
August 23.The Municipal Bank scheme became law
September 29. First branch of the Municipal Bank opened in Edmund Street
October. William Chamberlain and Alfred Barrett Brown, members of the national committee of the No Conscription Fellowship, appear before the Birmingham Tribunal
October 7. Bishop of Birmingham blessed the street shrine on the wall of St Gabriel’s, Digbeth, and then did the same at eight more in the same parish
November 9. An ill J.R.R Tolkien enters the First Southern General Hospital with trench fever
November 11. The Bishop of Birmingham unveils a war shrine on the wall of St Mary’s, Aston Brook
November 22. Monyhull war hospital opened
December 7. Uffculme receives its first patients as an auxiliary hospital
1917
January 1. Major Townsend, associated with Newburys, 1/8th Warwicks awarded the DSO
January 9. Death of the Hon.Richard Orlando Beaconsfield Bridgeman in East Africa
January 25. Robert Phillips, 9th Warwicks, wins the VC in Mesopotamia
February 22. Private Charles Vigurs,11th Warwicks, the Olympic gymnast, is killed near Loos
April 22. Death of Lance Corporal Walter Kimberley, former Aston Villa player, who had been part of a POW exchange
May 19. Princess Louise visits the 1st Southern General Hospital
May 19. Private Samuel Cunnington, Royal Warwicks, is shot at dawn
June 1. The Dudley Road Section of the 1st Southern General becomes independent as the 2/1st Southern General Hospital
June 6. Moor Green House opened as an auxiliary hospital for officers having already been a more general hospital
June 13. Council House ceremony to commemorate Lieutenant Colonel Innes and Major Caddick, 1/8Th Warwicks, killed on the first day of the Somme
July 31. Death of Captain Thomas Barnsley son of Brigadier General Sir John Barnsley
August 8. Charles Bonner wins the VC as an officer on a ‘Q’ ship in the Bay of Biscay. He had attended Bishop Vesey Grammar School
August 16. Death of Second Lieutenant Bernard Long, son of Superintendent Bernard Long
August 22. Several Brummies are drowned on Blyth Sands when part of the 5th Reserve Battalion of the Warwicks
September 20. Serjeant Alfred Knight wins VC in the Ypres Salient whilst serving in the 2/8th Post Office Rifles
October 6. The Hollies, Four Oaks Road, Sutton Coldfield, opens as a VAD hospital
October 14. Duke of Connaught inspects airmen and other volunteers in Cannon Hill Park
October 19. Zeppelin L42 dropped a bomb on the Longbridge works
October 27. Serjeant Herbert Shillcock dies of wounds. His father ran the famous sports outfitters
November 20. Death of 2nd Lieutenant Henry Forge, son of the Vicar of Walmley
December 1. Norman Chamberlain killed at Cambrai in the 1/Grenadier Guards; he was the cousin of Neville Chamberlain and a city councillor
December 5. Lieutenant Leysters Llewellyn Greener MC, Royal Warwicks, killed
December 31-January 5. 1918 Tank Bank Week in Victoria Square
1918
January 1.Hollymoor renamed the Birmingham Special Military Surgical Hospital
January 1. Birmingham Food Control Committee had been given permission to introduce a scheme of rationing which went into operation that day
February 17. Kees Boeke, husband of Beatrice Cadbury, is deported under emergency regulations
February 26. Matron Katy Beaufoy and Sister Rose Kendall are killed when the HS Clenart Castle is torpedoed off the North Devon coast
March. Brigadier General Walter Ludlow visits the Somme to try to find his son’s grave
March 4-9. Dreadnought Week in Victoria Square
March 9. Private William John Billington of Handsworth is killed in Palestine. William Cross later presented the War Poetry Collection to the Library in his memory
March 29. Henry Dobson killed – only current Villa player to die in the war
March 30. Alan Jerrard wins the VC in Italy whilst serving in the RFC
April 12/13. A Zeppelin raid passes over Hall Green and Shirley and drops bombs
April 16. Second Lieutenant Thomas Silver killed whilst serving in the RGA south of Ypres. He was a city councillor
April 22. Serjeant Norman Finch wins VC whilst serving in the Royal Marine Artillery at Zeebrugge
May. Lieutenant Commander Arthur Langley is appointed to command the Stratford, London, RNAS experimental station
May 23. Trial of Harrison Barrow of the Friends Service Committee in London for breaches in the Defence of the Realm Act; he was sent to prison for six month
May 29. Anti-German protest against Charles Laubenburg at a Vestry meeting at St Margaret’s, Olton
June 8. 8000 spectators watch a baseball match at Villa Park between the Americans and the Canadians
July 25. Embargo strike in the munitions industry
July 26. Death of Mick Mannock VC, the air ace
August 6. Edgar Cadbury pilots a plane over the North Sea which shot down the zeppelin L70 in the last raid of the war
August 15. First day when Captain Arthur Impey, 79th Brigade, RFA, starts his diary of the last phase of the war
August 19. A Handley Page 0/400 bomber crashes at Maxstoke after flying from Castle Bromwich aerodrome; the RAF’s worst disaster of the war
August 22. George Onions wins the VC at Achiet-le-Petit whilst serving in the 1/Devons
August 24. Death of Eveline Shaw of FANY dies of illness whilst serving in the French Red Cross
August 25. Serjeant Harold Colley wins the VC at Martinpuich on the Somme whilst serving in the 10th Lancashire Fusiliers
September 10. Uffculme begins to specialise in the rehabilitation of limbless soldiers
September 12. Alfred Wilcox wins the VC near Laventie
September 21. Win the War Day. Presentation to Norman Finch VC in Cannon Hill Park
September 28. Maurice Pollack killed in Palestine, the famous child actor
October 21-26. Big Guns Week in Victoria Square
October 28. Charity matinee at the Theatre Royal raises £6200 for the Lady Mayoress’ POW Fund
November 4 William Amey wins the VC at Landrecies whilst serving in the 1/8th Warwicks
November 4. James Neville Marshall wins the VC at Ors whilst commanding the 16th Lancashire Fusiliers. He is killed that day
November 4. Arnold Waters wins the VC of the Royal Engineers is killed at the Sambre-Oise Canal
November 8. Death of Lt Commander Arthur Lane, son of the squire of Kings Norton
November 11. News of the Armistice arrives at 10.36 a.m. and celebrations begin
1919
January. Farewell gathering for Flemings and Walloons in the Town Hall
April. Lieutenant Eustace Hill whilst serving on HMS Marlborough helps evacuate the survivors of the Russian royal family from the coast near Yalta
April 21. Barr Beacon, given by Colonel John Wilkinson, opened to the public as a memorial to those killed in local regiments
November 6. Sister Adelaide Bottril, TFNS, receives the Royal Red Cross medal (2nd class). She is named on the Poor Law Guardians memorial
1920
November 11. The 1/8th Royal Warwicks memorial in Aston churchyard is unveiled
1921
Publication of ‘Birmingham and the Great War 1914-1919’ by Reginald Brazier and Ernest Sandford
October 19. Mayor of Sutton unveils the Boldmere Swimming Club memorial
October 21. On Nelson Day the ensign flown by HMS Birmingham during the war was presented to the City
1922
June 3. Foundation stone of Castle Bromwich Victory Hall laid by the Countess of Bradford
October 1. Mitchells and Butler memorial at Cape Hill unveiled
November 1. Sutton Coldfield war memorial unveiled
1923
June 12. Prince of Wales lays foundation stone of the Hall of Memory
1925
July 4. Prince Arthur of Connaught opens the Hall of Memory
The opening of the Hall of Memory in 1925 by the Duke o Connaught and, above, a year later
