Ryton is little more than a hamlet and does not have a Parish Church therefore it held no record or memorial to the men of Ryton who served during WW1. Despite this, I was aware that several Ryton men had served because my friend, Ann Duddridge had told me of several members of her family […]
Shropshire Archives has a unique collection of newsletters that offer an insight into one small community’s response to the First World War. It was compiled by the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of Dawley Baptist Chapel as a means of sharing news from home with local men who were serving overseas. Today it would probably have […]
In August 1914, as the German army advanced, and the Belgian army prepared a defensive line, 20 year old Marie Van Eylen escaped her small village near Louvain in Belgium. With her mother and stepfather, with only the belongings they could carry, she travelled to Antwerp, and from there to London. After a few weeks […]
Listed amongst the names on Hanwood’s War Memorial is Lieutenant Walter Atherton K.S.L.I. In addition, there is another touching memorial in Hanwood Church, the stone pulpit that was erected in his memory by his parents. Walter Atherton was only son of Mr Sam Atherton of Nobold, Shrewsbury. He got his commission in August 1914, and […]
Arthur Allwood enlisted in the Territorial Shropshire Royal Horse Artillery on 3rd February 1912, shortly after his 18th birthday. He died in March 1993 aged 99 years. A former Wem Grammar School pupil [1905–08], he served in both World Wars and wrote many booklets and articles on military history and his family life. He farmed […]
Percy William Micklewright was born in Myddle on 25 September 1890. He joined up, along with his younger brother Dick, and both men left for the Western Front in December 1915* as members of the Royal Army Medical Corps. The brothers were able to be together throughout the war, which must have been a great […]
“Wiry and energetic with a well-chiselled nose, pale piercing eyes, slight and graceful and a love for everything militaire.” Katherine ‘Katie’ Mary Harley, nee French, sister of Sir John French, leader of the British army at the outbreak of World War 1 and of Charlotte Despard, was born on May 3rd 1855 less than three months after the […]
Wilfred Owen 100 Shropshire-born poet and soldier Wilfred Owen is known throughout the World as one of the greatest World War I poets. He was born at Plas Wilmot near Oswestry in March 1893. His father Thomas worked on the railways and after spells at Birkenhead and Shrewsbury the family moved back to Shropshire’s county […]
In the town cemetery in Market Drayton there is a civilian grave to a man who died towards the end of the First World War. He is buried here as he met his death in the skies over the town. Cuthbert Everard Brisley was born into the officer class. At public school, Lancing College, he […]
It has often been remarked that many young men joined up seeking adventure as an escape from dull lives in crowded homes and the endless drudgery of many jobs, including those in agriculture. This certainly applied to Len Cooke of Grange Farm, Bicton. Len packed his bags and left the family farm at the age of […]
