Bilston, Willenhall and Darlaston

Bilston - Priestfield

The Priestfield memorial is of the Saxon Cross type - typical of amy small villages in England. What makes this memorial unusual is that the exact unit of the casualty is given. On many memorials, the regiment or corps is often not mentioned. On this memorial, even the battalion is given, which makes research a great deal easier.

The boy in the main picture is my son Jack, who accompanies me on many of my visits to memorials. I hope that through my passion for remembering the victims of conflict, he will come to understand what war means. I pray that he never has first hand experience like his ancestors did.

There are 74 names from the Great War and 13 from the Second World War.  The last name from the Second World War is recorded as having died some time before 31/12/1957

Moxley

About half way between Bilston and Wednesbury lies the village of Moxley. Here is an example of how memorials are in danger.

The memorial of of the crucifix type, often seen on the western front. The danger is evident from the photograph. The memorial stands at the centre of a major road complex, and sadly, many of the names on the memorial have been eroded, through a combination of weather and traffic polution. Click the image for a Closer Look

Darlaston

This is another stature type memorial, but on a magnificent scale. It is located next to the post office in the centre of Darlaston in a small park. It's condition is a testament to the locals since it is free of grafiti and damage.

Click the image for a Closer Look. The detail in the statue is stunning. What makes this memorial unusual is the fact that the names are arranged in order of date of death. In itself that is not unusual, but the last name from the Great War is dated 1927. This is just before the memorial was erected, and it shows that the local citizens were ken to honour those who had died from the effects of their service. The official cutoff for casualty figures was the end of 1920.

Willenhall - Portobello

At the end of Deans Road, turn left along the main Willenhall Road towards an area known as Portobello. There is a large roundabout which links the Willenhall Road to a road known as the Keyway (a testament to the local lock industry). Set back from the roundabout there is a memorial to the men of Portobello which is in excellent condition. Click the image to see how it looked when it was erected.

My thanks to Paul Jaques, a colleague from the Western Front Association for the loan of the original photograph.

On the rear panel is the name J Homer. John Homer was the Grandfather of one of my best friends. If you would like to read the story of how one soldier's name came to be engraved on this memorial Click Here

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