Category: Events

Air raid November 11th 1940

Today, 19th November 1940 was an awful day for many civilians in Birmingham as there was a devastating WW2 bombing raid.
During a recent project, to discover those often in unmarked graves, the Friends have added close to 50 names and grave sites to their Poppy Placing project. Many of them were whole families lost in the raid. Lest we Forget.
The Friends are lucky enough to be able to call upon Matt Felkin who holds many of the records for Birmingham Air Raids Remembrance Association.  He has posted this additional information.
Code for Birmingham ….Regenschirm (Umbrella)
Tuesday November 19th 20th 1940
Weather -clear sky with some fog at first, rain spreading in from the east
Minor activity during the day
Birmingham was attacked by Luftflotte 2 and 3, two primary divisions of the Luftwaffe
439 long range bomber’s dispatched
Luftflotte 2 -142 aircraft to Birmingham,107 reached the target area .
Luftflotte 3- 297 to Birmingham,249 reached the target area
Bombs dropped –
6x SD1800
9x SD1400
17x SC1000
32x LMB (para mine) small
16x LMA (para mine) large
816 x BSK (Bomben SchaltKasten) incendiary container. theoretically, a He 111 could carry 1,152 of them. In practice, it would carry a mixed load:-
105x SC500
22x Flam 500 (oil bomb) The original large incendiary device, the so called Oil Bomb which was known to the Germans as the flam or flammenbombe.
22x LZZ (long delay fuse bomb)
292x SC250
45x flam 250
2139 x SC50
Areas Affected
West Midlands Police Records Raid 43 -19th /20th November 1940 Air Raid Warning Red was received at 6.50 p.m. on Tuesday 19th November and White at 4.29 a.m. on Wednesday 20th November. During this period an intense raid was made on all districts of the City. (C District – Gerrard Street, George Street Garage, ICI Witton;, D-Division – Nechells Gas Company, GEC, Hughes, BBC, Queen Street, Aston Hall Road; E-Division – Coventry Road, Stratford Road)
The areas least affected were Kingstanding, Harborne, Northfield, Kings Norton, Stechford, Kings Heath. 18 Parachute mines (4 unexploded), 677 High Explosive, including about 42 Delayed Action type, 243 Incendiary Bomb incidents have been reported.17 of the incendiary bombs were of the oil type. The first report of a bomb being dropped was at 7.25.

Deutsche Bank staff power through shrubbery to uncover graves.

Twelve Deutsche Bank staff and four FBEC volunteers worked all day to clear several large areas of established self set trees and shrubs on one of the sections in the cemetery. It’s a slow process but we are making headway in the cemetery. It is a little like the Forth Road Bridge as we are sure it grows back almost as fast as we remove it, however much of the shrubbery removed has been in place for many, many years and will only return as ”low level.

The photograph below gives you an idea of the size of coppice/shrubbery we were tackling. If you would like to see more, follow this link.

The larger trees are left as the aim is purely to make access to all graves possible. Often the lower branches may be removed if the tree is well established. Below you can see the area above after clearance.

Many hands make this process easier and so much faster. 2 areas like this and some smaller spots were cleared in todays work.

 

Even larger Remembrance attendance this year.

The rain stayed away but the public came. Over 180 members of the public and representatives of the City Council, West Midlands Police, the Heritage Fire Service, West Midlands Ambulance Service, 202 (multirole) Regiment and many other organisations laid wreaths at the Cross of the Sacrifice on the main drive.  Members of St Dunstans Scout, Cub and Beaver sections both made and laid their own wreaths and presented their colours.  Our thanks to everyone who attended.

Our thanks again to  Deacon David Fairbotham for his thoughtful words and Trumpeter Pete Haw for his magnificent rendition of the Last Post and Reveille.

REMEMBRANCE SERVICE 2025

This years REMEMBRANCE SERVICE will take place in Brandwood End Cemetery on

                                              Sunday 9th November at 10.45am

Deacon David Fairbotham will lead a short service. This will be followed by the laying of Wreaths by local Councillors, WM Police, Fire Service and other organisations, at the Cross of Sacrifice on the main drive and also at the WW1 memorial.

New Commonwealth War Grave Headstone

CWGC have recently installed two headstones in Birmingham for previously non-commemorated First World War casualties. Sadly, there was no response to the appeal for relatives to come forward.

Signalman Scrivens at Birmingham (Lodge Hill) Cemetery, Private Bentley at Birmingham (Brandwood End) Cemetery.

Private Bentley will now be included in the Poppy Cross for every Grave project in Brandwood End Cemetery, which aims to place a poppy cross on those lost due to enemy action. This project includes Military personnel and Civilian bombing victims. Volunteers will be placing over 360 crosses during the next 2 week,

Grave Gardeners continue their sessions.

Just a reminder that if you fancy joining our small team of Grave Gardeners they are still meeting monthly to tidy various graves and areas if the cemetery. They always meet at the Lodge at 11am and finish between 12.30 and 1pm.

You dont have to come every month, just when you want- and you dont have to stay the full session. Its up to you! Some members come for the company and some for the benefit to their fitness but some just come because they want to help keep Brandwood End looking cared for.

Why not give it a try?

Saturday November 8th,   Sunday December 14th

 

The end of Heritage Open Week

What a wonderful week the Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery have enjoyed as part of Birmingham Heritage Open. From Music, to history, to art and symbolism!

Our thanks to everyone that took part in our four events. It was wonderful to introduce so many people to the cemetery who had never visited before or who often visit one area of our 53 acres and have never explored the rest. We have also had a lot of visitors from outside Birmingham this year.

Special thanks to Shelley from Leaf Creative Arts and Jodie and Rachel from Caring for Gods Acre. Their walks and our History walk proved so popular that we have had to promise to repeat similar events in the Spring.

Finally a special thank you to all our committee of the Friends who have supported these events and especially to Gill for being our photographer. To see extra photographs follow this link