All the photos in the album link below were taken within a few days of each other, yet the weather is so different! (Can I give e mention to Gary Staples who took the drone shots)
Author: Jane Edwards
Cemetery opening times
Can we just remind everyone that the cemetery opening times are subject to change at short notice, so please consult the Birmingham City Council web site below to confirm that your information is up to date.
Brandwood End cemetery | Birmingham City Council
To confirm, as we write (21.11.20), the times below are in operation.
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday- 10-4pm
Wednesday 8.30- 4pm
Saturday and Sunday 10-4pm
19th November 1940 saw heavy bombing in Birmingham
After losing the Battle of Britain the Luftwaffe pounded England’s industrial cities almost nightly on an eight-month-long bombing campaign. In Brandwood End we have many civilian graves as a result of bombing raids that attest to the devastating loss of life that Birmingham suffered.
Eighty years ago (Tuesday 19th November 1940) the first major aerial raid was launched on Birmingham as part of a campaign by the German Luftwaffe designed to break the Brummie spirit. Coming five days after the destruction of Coventry Birmingham fell prey to the most severe attack during the course of the Second World War. Lasting nearly all night the nine hours’ of intense bombing by 440 bombers killed 450 people and badly injured 540 others. Around 400 tonnes of high explosives were dropped during the raid – Hitler’s retaliation for British raids on Hamburg, Bremen and Kiel.
Factories damaged in the raid included Lucas Industries and GEC works and the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA) factory was also badly damaged – 53 employees were killed as they took shelter behind blast walls, 89 were injured, 30 of them seriously, and rifle production was said to have been halted for three months as a result.
Including lighter attacks on other nights, the casualties for the period from 19th to 28th November 1940 was 796 dead and 2345 injured. About 20,000 people were made homeless. A fearsome new weapon, the landmine, was being used. It was virtually a sea mine on a parachute and it was extremely powerful. But this was to be just the start. The Birmingham Blitz spanned 3 years.
The longest raid lasting 13 hours came on 11 December 1940 when 278 bombers targeted the city once more killing 263 people and badly wounding 243 after explosives and 25,000 incendiaries were dropped.
In total 1,852 tons of bombs were dropped on Birmingham making it the third most heavily bombed city in the United Kingdom behind only London and Liverpool. 2,241 Brummies were killed, 3,010 were seriously injured and 3,682 harmed.
Prolonged and powerful attacks destroyed 12,391 houses, 303 factories, 34 churches, halls and cinemas, 205 other buildings and thousands of other properties were damaged. A graphic illustration of sacrifices made at home, as well as abroad.
The last air raid siren sounded in Birmingham on 15th May 1944.
Some cheer in these dark days!
The evenings seem to start just after lunch….and the order of the day seems drizzle…but in the cemetery something stirs! A sign of better to come.
Can you support the Friends?
In a strange way this year we have seen more interest in ‘Remembrance’ than ever before! Individuals and families have been walking in the cemetery more frequently during lockdown, and reading the information displayed on noticeboards.
The Friends work hard throughout the year to make sure that notice boards, and our social media are kept current, interesting and informative. We are so pleased that many visitors have expressed interest in supporting us in our work, either by becoming members of the Friends or supporting events. You can download a membership application from this site. Please consider joining our ranks.
Gallipoli campaign.
Can we thank one of our contacts, Ian Binnie, as he also visited the cemetery on the 8th to lay a wreath on the grave to one of the soldiers, Private Horace George Turner , who lost his life during the Gallipoli campaign. Ian is Education Co-ordinator for the Gallipoli Association and was laying the wreath on behalf of the Gallipoli Association and the Warwickshire Yeomanry.
Old Soldier pays his respects on Armistice Day
Today at 11am on Armistice Day a few of us gravitated to the Cross of Sacrifice in the cemetery and observed the 2 minute silence. We were joined a little later by this gentleman who stood, at salute, for a full 2 minutes. Afterwards he exchanged a few words with several of us at the cross and explained that he had done his National Service in the 50’s and that he was also wearing his fathers medals. It made the moment very meaningful.
Keep your eyes peeled for Fungi.
Its a damp day today but here are some seasonal photographs of fungi that were spotted around the cemetery by one of our committee members, Carola Klein.
“THEY BURIED HIM AMONG THE KINGS BECAUSE HE HAD DONE GOOD TOWARD GOD AND TOWARD HIS HOUSE.”
November 2020 is the 100th Anniversary of the repatriation and burial of The Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey.
“Where did you lay to rest the body of my son?” For many thousands, there was no answer to give.
This poignant question, often the first posed by grieving families upon publication of First World War casualty lists, left a strong impression on the Reverend David Railton, MC, a chaplain to the 2nd Battalion of the Hon. Artillery Company on the Western Front during the 1914-1918 war.
In 1916, in a back garden at Erkingham near Armentières in France, he had noticed a grave with a rough cross on which were pencilled the words ‘An Unknown British Soldier’.
In August 1920, now vicar of Margate in Kent, he wrote to Herbert Ryle, Dean of Westminster, suggesting just one of these unknown soldiers should be entombed among the kings in Westminster Abbey, a symbol of the country’s gratitude and a permanent memorial to the fallen of the Great War who had no known grave.
King George V and the government, rather reluctantly at first, supported the idea and on 11th November 1920, the second anniversary of the Armistice, David Railton saw his dream become reality. After a service with hymns in the Abbey The Unknown Warrior was buried at the west end of the nave and the grave filled with soil brought from the battlefields of France.
The Union flag which covered the coffin had been used by Reverend Railton during the war to drape over his makeshift altars and over the bodies of soldiers killed in action. Since 1921 ‘the Padre’s Flag’, as it is known, has hung in St George’s Chapel close to the Warrior’s grave.
Lovely tributes on Remembrance Sunday
We were so sad to have to cancel our normal Remembrance Day Service but were heartened to see so many people throughout the day stopping to pay their respects at the Cross of Sacrifice.
Members of our committee laid wreaths at the Cross and also at the WW1 Memorial. Their wreaths were joined by those of the West Midlands Police Force, The Catholic Womens League and a tribute from the local community. There are still other wreaths to be laid later today but we think that , between us all, we have shown that the community as a whole pulled together to make Remembrance Sunday an ‘event’ despite these strange times. Thank you all.
We also welcomed Ian Binnie to the cemetery today who was visiting to lay a wreath on behalf of the Gallipoli Association and the Yeomanry Museum based in Warwick. It was destined for the grave of Private Horace George Turner – Service No. 2244 who lost his life in Souvla Bay.
