Friends of Brandwood End Cemetery

Air raid November 11th 1940

Jane Edwards — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 12:16:34 +0000

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.

Carols with St Albans R C Primary School Choir

Jane Edwards — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 11:35:43 +0000

We are so pleased to be welcoming St Albans pupils back again to the cemetery for a short burst of Christmas Carols. This will be their 3rd visit and we hope this tradition continues for years to come!

Please come and support the choir on December 10th at 2pm in the Civilian Garden area, near Broad Lane gate on the main drive.

Deutsche Bank staff power through shrubbery to uncover graves.

Jane Edwards — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 20:58:49 +0000

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.

Armistice Day

Jane Edwards — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 20:38:16 +0000

Deutsche Bank volunteers join FBEC members in a 2 minutes silence at the Cross of Sacrifice today before continuing with their grave clearance task.

Even larger Remembrance attendance this year.

Jane Edwards — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 20:21:56 +0000

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.

Grave Gardeners Session

Jane Edwards — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 21:42:22 +0000

Reminder to our lovely team of gardeners. the next Grave Gardening Session is this Saturday the 8th November .Meet at the lodge at 11am.

Why not join us for some chat and a workout?

Nat West Bank make an impression!

Jane Edwards — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 21:35:12 +0000

A small team of Nat West staff made a huge impression on two areas where graves have been hidden for years.

Well done to them as they achieved a lot in their day with us. Lets look forward to their next visit.

REMEMBRANCE SERVICE 2025

Jane Edwards — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 21:58:03 +0000

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

Jane Edwards — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 21:44:41 +0000

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,

Cemetery looking spick and span…..

Jane Edwards — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 21:35:02 +0000

The Friends would like to give a shout out to our volunteers that have done the usual seasonal oiling of our benches in the Civilian Garden area on the main drive. Can we also highlight the grass in that area, which is box cut and keeps this burial area looking amazing- as you can see in the photograph below. Thanks also to Ray for trimming the top of the hedge. Many hands make light work…….or Civilian Gardens beautiful!

We also spotted the great design on the entrance lawn. Well done to whoever was on the ride on mower that day!

We understand that the cemetery has now had its final cut for the winter.