Memorials in and Around the Town

The town of Wolverhampton has may war memorials. Some are large and impressive, others small poignant and moving. They range from the statue type such as that in Heath Town Park, to the small tablet type which can be seen in Thornley Street near to the old drill hall. There are Crosses, Obelisks, and even fields and buildings. Through this project I hope to stimulate interest in memorials, and through that interest, an appreciation of those the memorials commemorate.

Quick Access Panel

Use the links in the table above to go directly to a specific area in the town, or just browse down at your leisure

I'll start with my personal favourite.

Thornley Street

Approaching the town from the A449, you take the main road to the town centre (Stafford Strreet). As you cross the Ring Road, the memorial can be seen on the left. The Thornley Street memorial is most unusual since service numbers appear as well as names and ranks. The Units are also given which leads me to believe that this memorial may be military in origin. It is located on the side of a house which is less than 100 metres from the building which served as the base for the 6^th battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment which was the towns territorial battalion.  My other theory is that this may have been a memorial to the inhabitants of the street who lost their lives.  My research continues and any help would be appreciated.

The size of this memorial can only be appreciated from a distance, Click the image for a Closer Look

Of the 14 casualties, 4 have known graves, No. 9825 Private Harry MALE of the 1^st battalion, South Devonshire Regiment is the only one buried in England. Buried in Manchester southern cemetery, he died at the age of 22 years on the 16^th of October 1918. The decaying wooden cross stuffed in the side of the memorial has been there for years and is the remains of a Royal British Legion memorial cross. As a boy, I always remember a fresh one being placed there near remembrance Sunday. I can only assume that the person who laid this small token has gone to join the soldier they were remembering.

Since the launch of the Virtual Cenotaph by the Express & Star Newspaper, I have started to cross check some of the names which appear on physical memorials.  I discovered that the majority of names on this memorial had been omitted from the Virtual Cenotaph.  The reason for this I believe is down to the content of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database.  Their database is compiled from official information and from biographical details supplied by the relatives of the casualties.  For many reasons, some casualties have no such information recorded against them.  The search done for any reference to "Wolverhampton" on the CWGC Database will only return those casualties which have this data.  There are many casualties from Wolverhampton which cannot be traced this way.

I did a cross check with "Soldiers Died in the Great War" and checked every casualty on this memorial.  They were all recorded as being born in Wolverhampton.  One name - E Evans has different initials (William Henry) in the database - but the service numbers match and the entry in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission checks out.  W. Conolly is listed in CWGC and "Soldiers Died" as W Connolly.

The Railway Station

The railway Station is not far from Thornley Street and is well signposted. The memorial in the railway station is located inside the footbridge which links platform 1 to platforms 2 & 3. Recently, I received an email from Terry Fairclough, a British ex-patriate working in Brunei. This memorial was the subject of the email since one of his relatives is commemorated on it.

Terry explained that the story in his family was that there were two brothers who were killed in the Great war, and that the wrong brother's name appeared on the memorial. He cannot substantiate the truth of the story as the person who told him has since died. The details of the brother whose name appears on the memorial suggest a railway connection. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission gave him the following information about the two brothers.

Sapper FREDERICK WILLIAM FAIRCLOUGH, 284262
Served with:  98th Light Railway Train Crew Coy Royal Engineers
Died: 31st December 1917
Commemorated:   ALEXANDRIA (CHATBY) MILITARY AND WAR MEMORIAL CEMETERY
Egypt, Plot E  Grave 189 

and

Private GEORGE EDWARD FAIRCLOUGH 23630
Served with: 2nd Battalion South Staffs Regiment.
Died: 17th February 1917
Commemorated:   THIEPVAL MEMORIAL  Somme  France  Pier and Face 7B

Terry Writes: "My understanding is that the name of Frederick William appears on the War Memorial at the station but family folklore (in the person of their brother Tom ) had it that George's name should have been there instead on the basis that George worked for the railway in Wolverhampton before the war started." 

"As you can see Frederick William did serve with the Light Railway Train Crew Company of the Royal Engineers and that alone would appear to me to be sufficient explanation for his name being on a railway plaque even if he didn't serve on the railway before the war.  We believe Frederick William worked on ships until joining up after the war started. Frederick William was lost at sea and in his career was torpedoed twice, the second time being fatal and we are told by his living sister that the first time was on the Lusitania in 1915 but again this has not been confirmed.  Those events took place before she was
born.    We have since established that there was a survivor 'Robert' Fairclough working in the engine room of the Lusitania so the hypothesis is that Frederick William was using the name of 'Robert'; several members of the family at that time seem to have adopted aliased first names, in the case of Frederick William this would be understandable as his Father was also called Frederick William."

The memorial is however only to those casualties who were employed in the Goods Department of the London & North Western Railway. It may be that George Edward did work on the railway, but in some other capacity. Who can say?

I am grateful to Terry for this story. Whether the stories are true or not matters very little. The fact is that much of our history is locked away in such stories and we owe it to the older members of our society to ensure that history does not die with them.

The Civic Centre

Near to the department of education in the Civic Centre, is a single memorial to D176381K AEM(Radio) 1 Adrian John ANSLOW.

Recently, I had the good fortune to meet Adrian's family, and with their permission, tell his story.

Adrian was born on the 9th of September 1961. He was educated at Coppice High School in Wednesfield. In 1979, he joined the Royal Navy, and completed his training in HMS Raleigh. Adrian was a young man who lived life to the full, and never wasted a moment of his all too short time. He often spoke of "this wonderful world" and pointed out to people around him the things which are often taken for granted. He was a keen photographer and his pictures reflect his personality. Simple, yet touching pictures of family and the area in which he lived. In August 1981, he took a holiday in Egypt, and the photographs he took demonstrate a sensitive appreciation of the aesthetic. He was a keen musician and athlete. He represented the Navy in swimming, shooting, running, fencing and boxing.

On April 1st, 1982, Adrian made a surprise visit home. He told his parents that he was going to an unknown destination, but that they weren't to worry. He flew to Ascension Island and from there he joined the Fort Austin. His letters from the South Atlantic were mostly about the wildlife - the whales and the turtles he had seen. Later, however, he wrote of his compassion for the young Argentineans. He said that during "Action Stations" his heart had beaten a little faster, and that hopefully he would not be a hero. By this time, Adrian was in Invincible, unfortunately he transferred to Atlantic Conveyor, and was on board when on May the 25th, an Exocet missile struck the ship.

His body was never recovered.

The words, written by his Mother, Rosemary are some of the most moving I have read.

The Offices of the Express & Star Newspaper

The town's newspaper - the Express & Star has it's own Great War Memorial.  The memorial records the names of not only those who were killed, but also those who served and returned home.  The image is taken from a video capture and is of poor quality.  I use video to record names - it's quicker than using a pencil.  I shall use a better image later on.

It is cast in bronze and has images in the Art Deco style.  Here is a close up of one of the details.

The most interesting thing about this memorial is that it gives the exact location of death of the casualties, in three cases the hospital where or Casualty Clearing Station where they died.

The Church of St. Stephen the Martyr - Springfields

Just outside the town there is a small estate known as Springfields. This estate grew up around the Butlers (Later M&B) Springfield Brewery. The brewery was closed down a few years ago, but the buildings still stand. The parish church has a very nice memorial which is in the form of a stone cross

The memorial is in excellent condition and has inscriptions relating to both world wars, although most of the names are from the Great War.

Click the image for a Closer Look

The Church of St. John the Evangelist

The church was built in 1760 and is a classical example of a Georgian Church.  Its own memorial is a rather nice marble tablet which bears the inscription " In reverent gratitude to God for peace and victory after the Great War 1914-1919 and in special rememberance of the men of this parish who made the supreme sacrifice"

In a small chapel near the altar, there is a modern memorial to Alfred Edward Sephton VC RN

Follow this link to the Victoria Cross Reference

In the same chapel, there are 4 Memorial panels which were rescued from St Pauls Church when it became redundant and the parish was amalgamated with St John's.  The panels bear the names of 149 men from the Great War and a further 17 from the Second World War

Near the main door, there is a rather fine memorial window to Trooper William Garfield, Bethune's Mounted Infantry who was killed in action at Scheepers Nek Vryheid in the Transvaal, May 20th 1900.

The help of Peter Hickman of the Church of St John the Evangelist is acknowledged.

Wolesley House Territorial Army Centre, Fallings Park

The Springfield brewery mentioned above was home to a magnificent works memorial. Recently, following the closure of the brewery, is was relocated to the Fallings Park TA Centre.

Near to this memorial is another relocated tablet.  It is the memorial erected by the owners of the Monmore and Victoria Works.  This is a fine example of a factory memorial.  Cast in Bronze, the names stand proudly in relief.

Just inside the doors of the centre is a magnificent brass plate which was originally located in the Drill Hall in Stafford Street.  It was moved in 1959 when the drill hall was given up.  The plate records the names of those soldiers of the town who served in South Africa from 1899 to 1902.  It is a memorial to those who served as well as those who lost their lives.  As such it is a valuable source of information.

Penn Fields

Situated opposite St Phillip's church, Church Street, Penn Fields, is this fine example of a statue type memorial.

It was erected by voluntary subscriptions.  It bears the names of Thirty Nine men.  The names will appear below later this week.

Trinity Methodist Chapel

Search for this church and you won't have a great deal of success. Sadly, the problem of redundant churches is not a new one, and the magnificent Wesleyan chapel which stood on the Compton Road was demolished in 1976. Fortunately, there is one piece of evidence of it's existence - the War Memorial. Near to the Quarter House pub, there is a block of flats which was built on the site of the church, and very near to the footpath there is a beautiful granite memorial.

Click the image for a closer look.

The there are twenty-two names on this memorial, they are:-

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