WEST MIDLANDS POLICE GREAT WAR MEMORIAL SITE
SAM CHIDLER RAVENHALL
Sam
Ravenhall was born circa 1894 in Castle Bromwich and baptised there on 5th
August 1894. His parents were John Joseph and Clara Louisa Ravenhall nee
Shuttleworth and he had three older siblings, Clara Elizabeth (1888), John
(1890), and George Joseph (1891). The family lived in a cottage in Little
Heath, Castle Bromwich and his father was a coal merchant's carter.
Sam joined Birmingham City Police on 18th September 1914 as a 20 year old
labourer, and served on the ‘B’ Division with warrant number 8538. He
resigned 15th November 1915 to enlist in the Army, assigned to the Royal Welsh
Fusiliers but later transfers to the 64th Company of the Machine Gun Corps.
He married Bertha Eliza Wilson in 1916, presumably prior to going to France.
The Battle of Morval commenced in the early hours of Monday 25th September 1916,
aiming to seize the German held Grid Trench and the Gueudecourt-Le Transoy Road
near Flers. The attacking battalions, the 10th King's Own Yorkshire Light
Infantry and the 1st East Yorkshire Regiment were held up by the wire
entanglements in front of Grid Trench. These tenuous positions were held through
the day and overnight. At 6.30am the following morning a tank made its way
up Pilgrims Way and assisted in the capture of Grid Trench and the Brigade
managed to advance into and capture part of the Gueudecourt-Le Transoy Road with
the village of Gueudecourt being entered during the afternoon. Casualties of 22
men killed are recorded, with Sam being among them. His body was lost and
he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
WILLIAM REASON
William
Reason was born circa 1893 in Brailes, Warwickshire, the son of William and Mary
Ann of "Hill View", Winderton, Brailes. He had an older brother, Frank
(1891), a younger sister Elizabeth (1897) and a younger brother, Percival Joseph
(1900), By 1901 the family were living in Banbury and, by 1911 William was
working as a hotel porter. In November 1912 William joined the Birmingham
City Police on B Division. He resigned in March 1917 to enlist in the
army, going to France with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
After the German Spring Offensive began on 21st March 1918, William's battalion
was at Epehy and the Division bore the brunt of the attacks, retiring to Hamel
on 31st March where they began to dig in to attempt to halt the German advance
but, on 3rd April William was killed at La Motta on the Peronne Road, as the
decimated battalion was pulled back and men re-allocated to other battalions.
His body was lost and William is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial.
GEORGE REDDING
George
had served in the Royal Artillery in the early part of the 1900s but, upon
leaving the army in 1911 he joined Birmingham City Police on 18th April 1911,
serving on the ‘A’ Division with warrant number 7859. On the outbreak of
war he was immediately recalled to the colours, joining the Royal Field
Artillery and going to France on 16th August 1914 with the BEF.
After just three weeks in France, George was captured on 4th September at the
very beginning of the Battle of the Marne and immediately taken back to Germany,
arriving there on 5th September and being incarcerated in a camp at Erfurt.
George remained a PoW throughout the war and was repatriated in 1919, whereupon
he rejoined Birmingham City Police on 3rd March 1919.
EDWARD GEORGE ROSSITER, MM
Edward
was born c.1888 in Westbourne, Bournemouth
GEORGE HENRY RUFFLES
George
Ruffles was born in 1894 in Plumtree, Nottinghamshire, and baptised on the 18th
June 1894, at St Mary the Virgin Anglican Church in Plumtree.
As a child he resided
233 Mapperley Plains, Nottingham,
his parents were George
Alfred and Anne Ruffles (nee Brammer).
George had an older sister, Mary Frances
(1892), and a younger sister, Doris Annie (1897).
George's father was working as a domestic
gardener and in the 1911 census the 16 year old George was working in the family
gardening business.
George
joined Birmingham City Police on 17th March 1914 as a 19 year old; he
served on the ‘C’ Division with warrant number 8451 and collar number C224. He
resigned on 20th May 1915 and enlisted in the Army in Birmingham.
By July the following year he had already risen to the rank of Company Sergeant
Major, service number 12099, in the 11th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire
Regiment.
The Battle of the Somme had opened just over a week before and, at 4.30pm on
Monday 10th July 1916, George's battalion launched an attack on the village of
Contalmaison from the west, successfully gaining the village and repulsing a
counter attack from the Prussian Guard. At 7.35pm that day a further attack was
made against Bailiff Wood. The battalion was relieved the following day by the
10th Battalion, Loyal North Lancashire Regiment to brigade reserve at Tara-Usna
Ridge. George's battalion moved into support trenches near Contalmaison Wood
during Thursday 13th July 1916 and took part in an attack on Pozieres at 9.20am
on Saturday 15th July 1916 advancing east of Contalmaison Wood behind the 8th
Battalion, East Lancashire and 6th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiments. The attack
was initially unopposed but then the attacking battalions encountered severe
machine gun fire as they crested Chalk Pit. The machine gun fire coupled with a
narrow frontage eventually forced the retirement at 2.30am the following
morning. Casualties of 275 men were taken in George's battalion with the
survivors being relieved to Albert later the same day.
George was killed, probably during this withdrawal, on 16th July 1916. He
has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.