Shropshire War Memorials

The End in Sight?

2011-12-11T16:15:00.002Z

This blog is linked to a project I have been undertaking for the last three years. My aim is to produce a book on the war memorials of Shropshire with publication timed to take place in 2014, the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. The end of 2011 is a significant point in the development of the project as it marks the completion of the bulk of my research work. This has involved visiting hundreds of local memorials of all kinds and compiling a database of more than 800 memorials in the county. As part of this work of course I have gathered a whole array of facts, information and stories linked to the memorials themselves and the men commemorated on them. These, along with a glossary of the memorials will form the backbone of the book. I have been helped in my research by a vast number of people I have met on my travels and who have contacted me via this blog. There help has been incalculable and I am very grateful to them all.

The new year will see me begin to write a first draft of the book which is already taking shape in my mind. There are likely to be chapters covering the following:

A general history of the development of war memorials
Early examples in Shropshire
Memorials in schools and colleges
VC winners commemorated on Shropshire memorials
Architects, designers and manufacturers

There will also be chapters on memorials in various towns and parts of the county such as: Oswestry & the NW, Telford, Shrewsbury, Ludlow & the SW. Finally of course there will be a gazetteer listing each of the memorials I have identified with location and brief details.

Putting the book together is a challenge I am looking forward to. There is, however, one detail which I have yet to resolve. What should be its title? Various ideas have sprung to mind or been suggested, including: ‘An Immortal Heritage’, ‘Sites/Stones of Remembrance’ & ‘Amongst the Crosses’. Please let me know what you think of these or if you have any ideas of your own – peterjohnfrancis@googlemail.com. It would be a big help.

Footballing memorials

2011-12-11T16:03:00.003Z

Although a life-long football fan (Shrewsbury Town of course), even I was surprised to discover that there are at least three war memorials in Shropshire linked in some way to the game.

Wrockwardine – a small village near Wellington – founded its own football team just after the last War and instead of remembering their menfolk who had died in the War in any of the conventional ways, decided to raise funds to secure the tenancy of a local field for the team to play on. The players bought a disused RAF building from High Ercall for a changing room and the club was up and running. They were obviously something of an innovative club as in the 1950s, at a time when it was virtually unheard of in local football, they erected floodlights for evening games. The lights were only very basic however and used ordinary bulbs of the screw-in kind. It was not a successful experiment and the lights were taken down after only one season. Sadly, the club folded some time ago but I understand that the old RAF building still stands quietly in the corner of the field.

Like Wrockwardine, the Whitchurch football club was formed immediately after the Second World War. It took the unusual name of Whitchurch Alport FC (a name it still has today) as a tribute to local footballer Coley Maddox who had been killed in the War. Coley’s family home was the nearby Alport Farm. The farm still exists though it is used today as craft workshops. The final footballing memorial in Shropshire is also linked to Whitchurch. Cmdr Alfred Peel Ethelston was killed in the Boer War when leading a Naval Brigade from HMS Powerful in the Battle of Graspan. After the end of the War, his family donated a handsome trophy to be competed for annually by local teams. The cup is inscribed with an image of HMS Powerful, the names of the battles in which its crew took part and Cmdr Ethelston’s medals and coat of arms. The very first competition took place in 1908/09 and was won, fittingly, by Whitchurch Working Men’s Hall. Local teams still compete for the trophy in a competition which has raised thousands of pounds for charity during more than a century of football.

The Mystery of Walter Stone VC

2010-10-31T14:59:00.007Z

Acting Captain Walter Napleton Stone was undoubtedly a very brave man. He was born in Blackheath, the tenth son of Edward Stone, a solicitor and attended Pembroke College, Cambridge before dropping out after only five terms. In the First World War he served as an officer in the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers on the Western Front. It has been claimed that by the time of the action which led to him being awarded a posthumous VC, he had already been awarded the DSO and the Military Cross. Strangely however, the Royal Fusiliers museum state that this was not actually the case.

His VC was earned for gallantry during the German counter-attacks at Cambrai in the winter of 1917. He was 25 years old. The citation states that he was commanding an isolated company in front of the Allies main line. He saw the enemy massing for an attack and sent valuable details back to HQ. As the attack developed with unexpected speed, he sent three platoons back and remained with the rearguard. He then stood on the parapet with a telephone, under terrific bombardment, relaying vital information until the line was cut on his orders. The rearguard was eventually cut to pieces and Captain Stone was seen fighting to the end before being shot through the head (London Gazette 13th Feb 1918).

Stone has no known grave but is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial in France, a family grave in Greenwich cemetery and in St Mary’s church, Shrewsbury. Therein however lies the mystery! What exactly was the link with our county town which led to his name being placed on the parish memorial at St Mary’s? There seems to be no evidence that he ever lived in the town or indeed had relatives here. Suggestions have been made that he either attended Shrewsbury School as a scholar or maybe taught there. The School archivist however has confirmed that neither of these is the case. The local press did not run an obituary and Shropshire Archives seem to have no other relevant records. The possibility of his having undergone military training in Shropshire has been mentioned, but there seems to be no evidence of this either. The only vaguely relevant fact that has emerged is that his maternal grandmother came from Herefordshire.

Better minds than mine have tried to make sense of all this but without any real success. So, if anybody out there knows anything that may shed light on the mystery then please, please get in touch!

Gerald Gliddon has contacted me in relation to this article. He is the author of ‘VC’s of the First World War; Cambrai 1917’ which includes a piece on Walter Stone. The book states that Stone’s family moved to Shrewsbury in 1914 and, although his father died in 1918, his mother lived there until 1936. There is no indication of where the information came from however and the address given in Shrewsbury (21 Vanburgh Park) turns out in fact to be the family address in London. Since then I have consulted Stone’s military record on Ancestory.co.uk but this sheds no light on his Shrewsbury connections and a study of the Kelly’s Directory ‘legal list’ of local solicitors from 1900 through to 1941 has no mention of his father. So, the mystery remains!

New Memorial on the Stiperstones

2009-12-09T17:00:00.003Z

On 22nd November this year a brand new memorial plaque was unveiled in Mytton Dingle, a small valley behind Stiperstones village. It commemorates five airmen who were killed there when their Whitley bomber crashed into the hillside on February 15th 1944. The bomber was towing a Horsa glider. The glider was released just before the crash however and landed safely in nearby Hope valley. Local people rushed to Mytton Dingle to do what they could but the men either died instantly or soon after the crash.

The event has attracted some interest in recent years especially as a lady from Hampshire has contacted a number of local people. Mrs Constance Hall was engaged to one of the crew which was killed that day, Sgt Jack Brownhill. She had received a bunch of flowers from him for St Valentine’s Day only the day before. My wife Julia and I initiated a fundraising effort recently to establish a permanent memorial. We were overwhelmed by the response, both from locals and from further afield. Supporters included people who had witnessed the crash (and never forgotten it) as well as others who had an RAF background and simply wanted to be associated with the project.

The plaque was unveiled on 22nd November by Senior Aircraftsman Duncan Macdonald who has lived all his life near the entrance to Mytton Dingle. Around sixty people attended the unveiling including Grp Cpt James, commanding officer of RAF Shawbury and Maj Hickman who is based at Shawbury and involved in a project to build a new Horsa glider there. Also present were standard-bearers from the RAF Association, the ROC and the Royal British Legion. The plaque is situated - with the kind permission of Natural England - on a stone cairn which holds an information board for visitors. It reads as follows:

A Whitley Bomber crashed into this hillside on
February 15th 1944
with the loss of its five crew members
Remember them as you walk these hills
Ft Sgt RR Brown W/O EA Creber
Sgt JT Brownhill Sgt RF Hodges Sgt H Little

Market Drayton's historic bugle

2009-12-09T16:52:00.005Z

The main war memorial in Market Drayton is a polished stone cross with the names of those who died in WW1 around its base and those from WW2 on marble plaques behind. It stands at the junction of two busy streets but in a neat, well tended garden area.

It is St Mary’s church in the town, however, which houses a more interesting collection of memorials, as I discovered on a recent visit. To the right of the sanctuary arch is a plaque to Charles Egerton Hugh Harding Bt. He was a Major in the Royal Fusiliers and was killed in France in 1917 and buried near Etaples. Below that is another brass plaque to the memory of John Aleric Everard Upton a 2nd Lt in the KSLI who died in 1916 of wounds received in action at Guillemont during the Battle of the Somme.

Nearby in the sanctuary is an impressive alabaster plaque erected to commemorate Charles Henry Lycett Warren, a Lt in the 8th Bengal Native Infantry and an Adjutant in the 12th Bengal Irregular Cavalry during the Indian Mutiny. The wording on the plaque proudly, and in some detail, records the circumstances of his death. He was shot through the heart at the age of 24 during an advance under Maj Gen Sir H Havelock to relieve his countrymen besieged in the residency at Lucknow. His friends and fellow townsmen, it records, erected the plaque as a testimony to the zeal and spirit he evinced throughout the campaign which led to the re-conquest of Lucknow and the rescue of the besieged from “a savage and merciless foe”.

The most impressive memorial in St Mary’s church however is in the Chapel of Resurrection. A huge brass memorial there records that the Chapel was dedicated to the “imperishable memory of the brave men who gave their lives during the First World War”. The long list includes Pte Frank Salt of the West Lancs Cyclist Corps (I must find out more about them). At the side of the memorial is some information about a bugle which was once on display there. I was intrigued but only got to actually see the instrument when the churchwarden opened up a locked chest nearby for me. The story of the bugle however makes interesting reading.

An inscription on its side states that it was originally donated to A Company of the 2nd Volunteer Rifle Corps by “the mothers and daughters of Norton-in-Hales” in 1860. When the Corps was disbanded it was left with Bugler Henry Hudson of Little Drayton. On his death it then passed, appropriately, to Dr ARF Exham who had commanded A Company for over 25 years. It is said that at some time the bugle was also used at the WW1 PoW Camp on the Isle of Man. Finally, at the end of its long and colourful journey, it was presented to the Church in the 1920s and resides there today.
　

The Armstrong Cottage tragedy

2009-02-02T12:26:00.013Z

The war memorial behind the altar in the church of the Holy Spirit, Harlescott, Shrewsbury is one of only a few in the county which includes the names of civilians. The names are those of Jessie Broxton, Margaret Meredith and John Meredith.

Many years ago, my father pointed out a field to me at the side of the Ellesmere Road on the northern outskirts of Shrewsbury. He described how a family who lived in a cottage in the middle of the field had been killed when it suffered a direct hit from a German bomb in the Second World War. It is only recently however that I have been able to uncover the full story of Armstrong Cottage. Firstly, I was able to confirm the accuracy of my father’s memory of the location by virtue of a discussion on the Shropshire Family History Society message board (thanks are due here to ‘William‘, Martyn Freeth, Ann Lonsdale and Michael Hulme - some of whom actually remembered the incident).

The bombing took place in September 1940 when German attacks on civilian British targets were at their height. The following week’s Shrewsbury Chronicle carried a full report but, respecting wartime security requirements, referred to it only as having taken place on “the outskirts of a large market town in the Midlands”. The details given however must have made its location plain, to local residents at least. The report describes how “…two high explosive bombs were dropped one of which struck the cottage and destroyed it, while another buried itself in the road-way nearby. The woman, who had retired to bed with her two small grand-children was Mrs Jessie Mary Broxton, and the children were Margaret Eileen Meredith, aged six, and John Terence Meredith, aged four, whose mother lives at Llangollen. The husband, William Broxton, was down-stairs when the bomb struck the house, enjoying a final smoke before retiring. Five minutes after Mrs Broxton had gone to bed he heard her call “Oh, Bill” and the next minute the bomb exploded and he was buried. When the rescue party arrived they found him buried under five or six feet of debris, but on extricating found him suffering only from slight shock and some cuts on the arm. In a different part of the debris a dog was found also very slightly injured, and when a large piece of debris had been pushed aside he emerged from his ‘nest’ wagging his tail”. The report goes on to describe how two neighbours, a Mr Carter and a Mr Bebb, were on the scene within minutes, closely followed by the local police. There was nothing they could do however to save Mrs Broxton and her two small grandchildren.

It is a sad story but fortunately such tragedies were rare in Shropshire. The only other civilian casualties of enemy bombing in the county I have been able to uncover are a Miss Josephine Maynard and a Mrs Hand, killed on the 29th August 1940 in Bridgnorth. Their names do not appear on the Bridgnorth memorials as far as I an aware, unless of course someone can tell me otherwise!

Since posting this blog, I have been contacted by Neil Evans who tells me that there are also civilian casualties listed on the Loppington, St Martins & Knowbury memorials. Many thanks to Neil for this.

Also thanks to Tim Wilcock who has told me more recently that Mrs Broxton and her grandchildren are buried in the graveyard at Christ Church in Welshpool.

Shot at Dawn

2009-02-01T15:38:00.002Z

After a long and determined campaign, soldiers who were executed during the First World War for various offences such as desertion and cowardice, were recently given a posthumous pardon. One of these men is recorded on the war memorial in St George's church in Frankwell, Shrewsbury. Records show that Denis Jetson Blakemore was a Private in the North Staffs Regiment. He was shot at 4.30 am on the 9th July 1917 for desertion and is buried at Locre Hospice cemetery in Belgium.

Blakemore was the son of the headmaster of Bicton school near Shrewsbury. He initially served in Ireland and then travelled with his battalion to France in 1916. At least two of his brothers also served in the First World War. At 5.40 am on 7th June 1917 he was reported missing as his unit formed up to attack. He was discovered hiding in a shell hole in the rear of the assembly trenches and then formed up, but later was found again to be missing. At his trial he pleaded not guilty and simply said he was too upset to go on with his section. Having previously been found guilty of being absent without leave, and been given a suspended sentence of 15 years penal servitude, a death sentence was almost inevitable. A guilty verdict was recorded and in the early hours of 9th July Denis Blakemore's life came to a sad end.

The interesting thing about the memorial in St George's is that Blakemore's name shows all the signs of having been in the list from the outset. For obvious reasons the names of many such men were left off local memorials. Maybe the circumstances of his death were not revealed at the time or maybe the people of Frankwell were more compassionate than many others. Can anybody out there throw any further light on this or provide any more information? Leave me a message by clicking on 'comments' below.

For details of the 'Shot at Dawn' memorial in Alrewas arboretum click on:

http://www.clarkehome58.freeserve.co.uk/SADmem.htm

I've recently discovered that Blakemore's name is also listed on the memorial plaque in Bicton church. Similarly to the one in St George's church it looks very much as though the name has been there from the outset.

Many thanks to Mike Carty who is carrying out some research into the various men who were 'shot at dawn' and points out that in fact quite a number of the men were included on their local memorials at the request of family or friends.

Katherine Mary Harley

2009-02-01T12:31:00.000Z

On a visit to the Parade shopping centre in Shrewsbury (formerly the Royal Salop Infirmary) some time ago I noticed a small plaque tucked away near the main entrance. Every curious, and wondering of course if it might be a war memorial, I looked more closely. Sure enough, it was a memorial to Katherine Mary Harley who rendered “gallant service for many years on behalf of women and children. Killed by a shell at Monastir on 7th March 1917 while tending the distressed Serbians during the Great War”. Intrigued, I determined to find out more. She is also remembered on the roll of honour in nearby St Mary’s church and also in Condover church, her home village. It appears that she went out to France early in the War to work at the Scottish Women’s Hospital but then moved on to Macedonia were she was attached to the Serbian army. There she became responsible for setting up an independent ambulance unit to serve the civilian population in the city of Monastir. On 7th March she had been distributing food to starving Serbians at her house. Whilst taking a break, she sat by a window. Sadly, when the usual bombardment began, shrapnel burst near the house and a fragment struck her in the head ending what had been a selfless and heroic life.

She was buried in Lambet Road military cemetery in Thessalonika. Katherine had interesting family connections. She was a sister to none other than Field Marshall French, Commander-in-chief of the British forces in France. Her sister, Mrs Charlotte Despard was also a “noted pacifist, emancipationist and socialist”. Following Katherine’s death, a memorial fund was raised in her honour. Part of the money was used to endow a cot in the RSI and the remainder invested and the income used to fund the Harley medals. These were then awarded annually to the two nurses who achieved the highest marks in their hospital exam finals. Apparently, the book ‘The Quality of Mercy’ by Monica Krippner contains more information about her. In it she is described as “wiry and energetic with a well chiselled nose, pale piercing eyes, slight and graceful and a love for everything militaire” She is said to have always been attired in full uniform so her relationship with her pacifist sister would have been an interesting one!

Silent homage

2009-01-31T20:00:00.000Z

In silent homage stand, Salopians true;
A tear in silence shed - they died for you.
They left the gracious shades of Wrekin high,
Or some dear Clee Hill glade, to fight - to die
Perchance, a vale mid Stretton’s purple hills,
Or some dear mining spot; with joy the spirit thrills
That to our Border shire such sons were born
In silent homage stand, this wondrous morn.

So begins a poem by Sarah Barker entitled ‘To the Immortal Memory of the Warriors of the K.S.L.I.’. It comes from a book of her poems published some time in the 1930s and came to light after I saw another of her poems displayed in Coalbrookdale church near to their war memorial. It is crammed full of patriotic verse about the royal family, the empire, famous British victories etc, but the most interesting section to me was one dedicated to Shropshire soldiers who fell in the Great War and community war memorials in the east of the county (where she seems to have lived). There are individual poems about the memorial tablets in Dawley church and Ironbridge Wesleyan chapel, the memorial bells in Ironbridge church, the main memorials at Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge and Wellington memorial lych gate as well as others with titles such as ‘The Poppy’ and ‘The Great Silence Day’. It may not be the greatest poetry ever written and is very much of its time but has an undeniable poignancy which still shines through. These lines are from ‘Dawley Memorial to the Fallen’:

When the setting of sun the Wrekin emblazons -
We’ll think of the “Dauntless” who loved its fair height
Who left its sweet shadow, their homes and their kindred,
For Dawley, for empire, for world’s weal to fight.

The book is simply called ‘Poems’ and is available - for reference only - from Shrewsbury library’s Literature collection.

The China-British air squadron

2009-01-30T21:06:00.000Z

A recent visit to High Ercall church provided an opportunity to see a memorial scroll to the men of the “China-British Fighter Squadron” which had always fascinated me. It was tucked away in a side chapel but nevertheless was a beautiful sight. It lists around 80 airmen who died in the 2WW with a wealth of detail such as the circumstances in which they died, memorials on which they are listed, where they came from, where buried and even their nicknames. Two (F/O Robertson & Sgt McCuaigh) died in a collision which killed them both. The Chinese connection is marked by the Sqn crest which includes a scroll with Chinese script on it, their motto ‘Rise from the East’ and a poem entitled ‘ The China Brits’ the last verse of which runs:

We who are left are no longer of their age, as once we were,
Yet we remember that once they flew beside us, wing to wing.
Now they keep formation in our hearts.

Some research on my return revealed that No. 247 (China-British) Sqn was so named “in recognition of donations made by the British colonies which, at the outbreak of the 2WW, were established on the Chinese coast”. It was first formed at the end of the 1WW when it used flying boats in its role of reconnaissance and anti-submarine work in the North Sea, but disbanded in 1919. At the outbreak of the 2WW, the sqn was re-formed to fly Gloster Gladiator bi-planes to defend the south west of England. A move to High Ercall airfield came in Sept 1942 and No 247 was heavily involved in attacks prior to and including D-Day. After the War, the Sqn became the first unit to operate the de Havilland Vampire jet fighter and formed part of the UK’s air defence in the early years of the Cold War, finally disbanding in 1963. Apparently the Chinese characters on its badge read ‘fierce wind’. For more information, try:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._247_Squadron_RAF

There’s a book out there called ‘Rise from the East: The Story of No. 247 (China-British) Sqn’ by David Marchant which I shall make every effort to locate. I don’t suppose anyone has a copy!?

John Brunt VC

2008-11-13T10:54:00.003Z

There are at least nine VC winners commemorated on Shropshire war memorials (see my post below for details). All earned their reward for outstanding valour and courage but perhaps the best known of them is Cpt John Brunt. His reputation for inspired leadership, personal bravery, coolness under fire and lack of concern for his own safety earned him a place in history as a real 'Boys Own' hero.

He was born in the tiny south Shropshire hamlet of Priestweston on 6th Dec 1922 and educated at Ellesmere College. When the 2WW broke out he was commissioned into the Sherwood Forestors. Respected by his men for his determination and courage, he was awarded the MC and then a posthumous VC for gallantry shown in action near Faenza, Italy just days after his 22nd birthday. His citation records: "...the house near which Capt. Brunt's Platoon was dug in was destroyed by intense mortar fire. The Captain, rallying his remaining men ... continued to hold the enemy although heavily outnumbered. Personally firing a Bren gun, he killed about 14 and then, his ammunition exhausted, he fired a Piat and 2-inch mortar left by casualties. This aggressive defence allowed him to re-occupy his previous position and get his wounded away."

The Germans retreated but the next day Brunt was drinking a cup of tea when a mortar shell fell at his feet killing him outright. There are a number of memorials to him. In Paddock Wood, where his parents lived, the pub was re-named the 'John Brunt VC' and remained so until the 1990s and there is a beautiful rose-window to his memory in the church there. In Shropshire, the John Brunt Memorial Cricket Pavilion at Ellesmere College was opened in 1970 and, more recently, the Shropshire War Memorial Association arranged for a small plaque to his memory to be placed in a road-side wall at Priestweston. For more information you can follow this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brunt

Battlefield crosses

2008-10-22T11:02:00.004+01:00

Quite a number of churches in Shropshire have old wooden crosses as memorials to the men whose names are on them. Some are more prominent than others. St Laurence's in Ludlow has three in the main porch, others are hidden away such as Lydham where they are in the vestry. They fascinate me. Clearly they have been brought back from the battlefield where they marked the grave of the dead soldier. When and how and by whom were they brought back though? The only internet reference I can find is on the Hellfire Corner site but it doesn't really answer the questions:

http://www.fylde.demon.co.uk/crosses.htm

The churches in Shropshire where I have identified them are:

Billingsley; Bitterley; Claverley; Ford; Ludlow; Lydham; Norton in Hales; Ruyton XI Towns and Lydbury North.

Does anybody know any other examples?

PS I have recently come across some further information about these crosses which forms part of the WW1 memorial in Cruckmeole school. It states that they were often made by local French carpenters. Largely because of the quantity involved and the inevitably chaotic conditions which prevailed, the small metal tags giving name, rank etc were sometimes obtained from slot machines on railway stations and other places. When the wooden crosses were eventually replaced with stone markers, realising their historical significance, the IWGC sent them home to the families or gave them to organisations such as Toc H. The remainder were, appropriately, burnt and the ashes scattered over the cemetery.

Battlefield church

2008-09-13T14:40:00.003+01:00

The battle of Shrewsbury, fought on 21st July 1403, is perhaps best known from Shakespeare's Henry IV part 1. In 1399 Henry had come to the throne with the aid of the powerful Percy family from Northumberland. The alliance was not to last however. Feeling that Henry had failed to reward them adequately, the Percy's with their allies marched south in rebellion. A hurriedly raised Royal army set off westwards from Nottingham and met them at Shrewsbury, where a bloody battle was fought just north of the town. Thousands lost their lives and although the King emerged victorious, his losses exceeded those of the rebels.

Soon after, a chantry chapel was established on the battle site as a memorial to those who had died. The chapel was endowed so that chaplains could offer prayers for the souls of those who had lost their lives in the battle and for the King. Today, Battlefield church still stands on the site as undoubtedly the oldest and most impressive war memorial in Shropshire. The building of such a chapel was a common medieval response to a local battle but few if any examples have remained as complete and well preserved as Battlefield's. Though it stands isolated in a field off the A49 road, regular services are still held there and, as if to bring it up to date in 'war memorial' terms, a marble plaque in the church remembers those parishioners who fell in the two world wars. Make a visit if you can. I understand the key is available from a nearby house.

Locomotive memorial

2008-08-27T18:04:00.005+01:00

I suppose like most counties, Shropshire has its share of unusual and imaginative memorials. At Alberbury church an aeroplane propellor has been made into a cross, at Jackfield a footbridge across the Severn serves as a memorial to the dead of both world wars and at Monkhopton church a stone cider press forms part of the village memorial. My favourite however is a Stanier 8F locomotive which served during a long working life in places such as Persia, Iran and Egypt. In 1968 it was transferred to the Severn Valley Railway in its early days as a heritage steam railway attraction. In 1986 it was dedicated as a memorial to all the British railwaymen who gave their lives in World War Two (see plaque above). The locomotive is shortly to be displayed at the Education Centre at Highley station on the SVR along with a roll of honour of all railway 'sappers' who died in the same war. For more details try the Stanier 8F Locomotive Society's website:

http://www.8fsociety.co.uk/014.htm

Shropshire VC winners

2008-08-19T22:32:00.007+01:00

I have a particular interest in local winners of the Victoria Cross who are commemorted on Shropshire war memorials. The ones I have identified so far are as follows:

Cpt John Brunt - Ellesmere College & Priestweston
Maj C Yate - Madeley
TOL Wilkinson - Quatt
A/S WC Williams - Stanton Lacy
Cpt H Ackroyd - Shrewsbury School
WN Stone - St Mary's, Shrewsbury
Maj W LaTouche Congreve - Haslehurst Memorial Hall, West Felton
TT Pryce - St Giles', Shrewsbury & Shrewsbury School

Is anyone out there aware of any others that I have missed or have any information about any of the gallant men in the list? If so, please let me know by posting here. Thanks.