Castle Bromwich In World War 1 & 2 Archives

Deadly Rays on Hodge Hill Common

May 26, 2015 by William Dargue Leave a Comment

John Hall-Edwards (1858-1926) pioneered the use of X-rays in medicine. He had long been interested in the medical application of electricity and when German scientist Wihelm Röntgen published his findings about X-rays, he applied himself to experimenting with them.

In January 1896 he became the first person to use X-rays for medical purposes when he took an X-ray photograph of a needle which had stuck inside the hand of a colleague. He then continued to use X-rays in clinical operations.

In order to make the public aware of the possibilities of the new technique, Hall-Edwards set up on Hodge Hill Common with a demonstration of X-rays in action.

Hidden Dangers

The danger of the rays was unknown at the time and Hall-Edwards suffered increasingly about his hands as a result of his continuous experimentation. In 1908 his lower left arm was amputated as a result of damage caused by X-rays. He donated his hand to Birmingham University Medical School where it can still be seen. Nonetheless, for 20 years Hall-Edwards maintained his post as Senior Medical Officer in charge of the X-ray Department at Birmingham’s General Hospital in Steelhouse Lane. He also had a private radiography practice in Newhall Street.

War and Politics

During the First World War he became part of the recruiting movement, addressing mass rallies as venues such as Birmingham City FC’s St Andrew’s ground. He was promoted Major and was appointed as Senior Medical Officer of the Military Command Depot at Sutton Coldfield, later taking charge of X-ray departments at Hollymoor, Monyhull and Rubery Military Hospitals.

After the War he went into local politics winning a place on the Council in 1920 as a the Unionist candidate for Rotton Park Ward. He worked tirelessly on the Public Health, Museum & Art Gallery and Public Libraries Committees.

A blue plaque of the Birmingham Civic Society on the wall of the Children’s Hospital (formerly the General) testifies to his remarkable achievements.

An American Airman laid to rest 3500 miles from Home

March 4, 2015 by William Dargue Leave a Comment

His parents’ only child, Raymond Tenney Balch was born in 1894 in Newburyport Massachusetts and fell to his death from a training aircraft over Sutton Park just months before the end of the First World War.

He was educated locally at Newburyport, then in 1912 enrolled at the Phillips Academy, Andover, the oldest (and most prestigious) boarding school in the USA. After a short career in banking in Boston he signed up at the Naval Cadet School of Massachusetts graduating in 1917 as an Ensign. He was assigned to the 9th Deck Division, but was unable to go into active service for medical reasons.

Forced to Enlist in Canada

Disappointed but undeterred, Balch travelled to Toronto where he enlisted with the newly formed Royal Flying Corps Canada, undertaking training at Bayside in Canada and at Fort Worth, Texas, during the winter months.

He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in November of 1917 and in December of that year was sent to Castle Bromwich for further training before joining the Great War on the mainland of Europe.

Joins No.74 Training Squadron

Raymond Balch was assigned to the No.74 Training Squadron at Castle Bromwich aerodrome. In February the next year he won his First-Class Pilot’s licence and was promoted to First Lieutenant on 1st April 1918.

1918 Raymond Balch Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a — A Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a

On 25 May 25 1918, two days before his transfer to the Front, he took his aircraft out for aerial manoeuvres and target practice over Sutton Park. The plane was an RAF SE5a which had come into prominence towards the end of the War.

Balch pulled out of a dive over the park on his way back to Castle Bromwich airfield, the aircraft broke up. Balch was thrown to the ground and killed.

The SE5a was prone to have gear system problems, and it was not unknown for the propeller and sometimes the entire gearbox to break loose from the engine and airframe in flight.

Lieutenant Balch was 23 years old when he was killed and one of 85 students of Phillips Academy who died in service during the First World War.

He was buried in Castle Bromwich graveyard close by the new gate. On 4 August 2014 a vigil took place at Castle Bromwich Church led by Rev Gavin Douglas to commemorate the centenary of the declaration of hostilities between Britain and Germany. The service started at the grave of Lt Raymond Tenney Balch.

Remembered in Massachusetts and Castle Bromwich

‘The Municipal History of Essex County in Massachusetts’ of 1922 lists Balch’s achievements ending with the words, ‘He was of that fine manly type, honourable and devoted to duty, modest in manner, but with the courage to face any test coming in the line of duty. Long may his memory be kept green, this young man who died for others, the supreme test of manhood.’

In 1922 the Phillips Academy in Andover built a memorial tower to commemorate the sacrifice of the students who had given their lives during the First World War. The Honor Roll includes the name of R T Balch. The tower was hung with a carillon of 19 bells cast by John Taylor’s bell foundry in Loughborough.Fitting then, that it will be Taylor’s who are to carry put the restoration work and the casting of two new bells at St Mary & St Margaret’s church just across the road from the grave of the brave lieutenant.

Acknowledgements: This article has been developed from research by Terrie Knibb and the Castle Bromwich Youth & Community Partnership. For more information about the Castle Bromwich Graveyard Project go to http://castlebromwichgraveyard.co.uk/

Flight Sergeant Peter Bode

February 25, 2015 by William Dargue 3 Comments

Flight Sergeant Peter Bode of Ward End was killed in action over the Netherlands on 21 September 1944 aged 21. He is buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Wijchen in the Netherlands and is commemorated on his mother’s tombstone in Castle Bromwich graveyard.

During the Second World War Peter Bode was the tail gunner in a Stirling supply plane piloted by Warrant Officer Mark Azouz as part of Operation Market Garden in September 1944. This was an unsuccessful attempt by Field Marshall Montgomery to invade Germany over the Lower Rhine and encircle the Germany’s industrial heartland of the Ruhr from the north. Large numbers of troops were dropped by parachute and supplied from the air by hundreds of missions like the ones Peter Bode was involved in.

Stirling aircraft used to supply troops during Operation Market Garden

At noon on Thursday 21 September Mark Azouz took off from Keevil airfield in Wiltshire with 10 other aircraft of the 196th Squadron and parachuted in 24 containers of supplies for the British troops at Arnhem. This was the crew’s fourth supply flight in five days. As the plane turned and made for England, it was hit by flak from German anti-aircraft guns on the ground and then chased by several German FW109 fighters. Sgt Bode fired at the enemy aircraft and hit one of them. However, two of the engines of his own plane were hit and caught fire.

Azouz struggled to keep the Stirling in the air, as the crew put on their parachutes and bailed out. Fire and smoke were pouring from the engines and the plane began to dive. Pilot Azouz abandoned the controls and ran back to the body of the aircraft to make his escape. He found the compartment empty and the crew of seven all gone, with the exception of Peter Bode. He was dead in his seat in the rear gun turret, riddled with gun shots.

Less than 15 metres above the ground, Mark Azouz jumped from the plane and was almost immediately shot dead by German gunfire. The Stirling bomber came to rest in a flooded field, the lifeless body of Peter Bode still on board.

Warrant Officer Azouz is buried at Jonkerbos near Arnhem.

Flight Sergeant Peter Harold Bode is buried in the Roman Catholic cemetery in nearby Wijchen.

The inscription on his grave reads:

1583111 Flight Sergeant
P. H. BODE
Air Gunner
Royal Air Force
21st September 1944
Age 21
My beloved son
Safe in the arms of Jesus
Safe on his gentle Breast
“Until”

When Peter Bode’s mother died only six years later, she was buried in Castle Bromwich graveyard and an inscription was also put on the gravestone commemorating her brave son.

A Death Away from Home

February 22, 2015 by William Dargue 1 Comment

Lucien Higgs’ fatal crash on a training flight from Castle Bromwich in 1917 ended his hopes of fighting the Germans who had invaded his home country of Belgium.

Higgs had been born in Belgium in 1892 in Schaerbeek, a well-to-do suburb of Brussels. With Higgs as his surname, and the English middle names of John Herbert, it may be that his father was British and his mother Belgian. Records show that he moved to Antwerp, 30 miles away from Schaerbeek, before 1915 and that he was in England by 1917.

The Germans invaded Belgium early in August 1914 and thousands of Belgian refugees crossed the English Channel to Britain. The numbers were enormous: on one day in October 16,000 refugees arrived at Folkestone alone.

During the four years of the First World War, it is estimated that a quarter of million Belgians found safety in this country. Many of those of fighting age volunteered to sign up in the military at the Belgian Embassy at London’s Eaton Square.

On 30 May 1917 Higgs was promoted from cadet to a temporary 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps. This was a a role that might involve being in charge of a platoon. The class system which operated in the forces had broken down because of the sheer numbers of troops involved in the war and the enormous death rate. By 1917 anyone with some education and/or initiative would be promoted to fill the gaps.

Training to Fly

One month later Lieutenant Higgs was being trained to fly at Castle Bromwich Aerodrome. The Maurice Farman S.11 Shorthorn was used for reconnaissance and bombing raids at the beginning of the war but by 1917 it was being used solely for training new pilots.

The priority for Castle Bromwich No.5 Training Squadron was to get as many young men airborne and off to the Front as quickly as possible. On Friday 8 June, 25 year-old Lucien Higgs took off in a Shorthorn on his first solo flight having had only 3¼ hours dual instruction.

Lucien Higgs' Aircraft, a S11-Shorthorn — Lucien Higgs’ Aircraft, a S11-Shorthorn

It is thought that Higgs must have got lost. The Farman Shorthorn had a range of over 200 miles and a top speed of 66 mph.

Higgs had been in the air for three hours and he knew that he was getting very low on petrol. He must have decided to make an emergency landing before his fuel ran out.

He did not know it but he was flying over Northamptonshire and still some 50 miles from his base at Castle Bromwich. If he had not tried to land, he would have crashed anyway.

His aircraft was seen by Blisworth villager Edwin Freeston. He watched as the pilot attempted to land in a field of clover. As the plane touched down, it suddenly stopped, tipped over forwards and was wrecked. Freeston ran for help as Higgs lay unconscious in the remains of the plane. He was taken to Blisworth railway station a quarter of a mile away and then taken by train to Northampton General Hospital. Higgs had a fractured skull and never regained consciousness. He died the following day.

Inquest into the Crash

At the inquest his instructor was of the opinion that Higgs had landed with the wind behind him and that the field sloped downhill. This would explain why the plane tipped over forwards. What the instructor failed to say was that Higgs did not have the experience yet to fly solo and could not have been expected to know how to make an emergency landing in unforeseen circumstances. Sadly he was one of many trainees from Castle Bromwich who never made it as far as the War.

Lucien Higgs' Gravestone — Lucien Higgs’ Gravestone

Lieutenant Higgs’ body was brought back to Castle Bromwich where Rev Bickersteth would have presided over his funeral. His memorial is not the usual one supplied by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission but a private one, presumably paid for by members of his family.The gravestone is in the shape of a cross with the simple inscription:

‘In loving memory of Lucien Herbert J Higgs – Killed while flying’.

An Australian Aviator

February 22, 2015 by William Dargue Leave a Comment

Australian Corporal Clifford Ryder was one of many airmen who met their death at Castle Bromwich during the First World War.

His parents Alfred and Eliza were from Newton Abbot, Devon and had emigrated to Australia, setting up home in Sydney where Clifford was born in 1893, the youngest of five sons.

Enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force in October 1916, his unit set sail from Melbourne to fight the war in Europe on board RMS Omrah in the following January. One month later and Ryder found himself at Castle Bromwich airfield. Having trained as a motor mechanic in civilian life, he was soon put to work as a fitter maintaining and repairing aircraft.

Castle Bromwich airfield had been set up in 1915 to train new pilots. Airmen from Commonwealth countries and from the United States trained there with British recruits.

These were early days in the history of flight. In little more than a decade from the first successful powered flight, aeroplanes were being used in warfare. Understandably, accidents were common. At Castle Bromwich there were over 70 incidents with some 30 deaths and over 50 crew injured, many seriously.

Clifford Ryder’s unit had been posted to Warloy Baillon near Amiens in France; some were there already. The intention was that all would be over in France before the end of the year.

On 10th April 1917 Corporal Ryder took off from Castle Bromwich on a training flight in a Sopwith 1½ Strutter biplane with 2nd Lieutenant John Williamson in the pilot’s seat.Ryder sat aft in the gunner’s position. It was their last flight. Although the cause of the crash is unknown, the result was that the plane fell to earth in fields near Ullesthorpe in Leicestershire.

Williamson seems to have died on impact; Ryder was taken to Ullesthorpe Military Hospital (now a hotel) and died shortly after arrival there.

He was brought back to Castle Bromwich and buried with full military honours in the graveyard opposite the church of St Mary & St Margaret.