Life in the northern wastes of Walsall
Desmond Burton has again been in touch, still pursuing his extraordinary research on the subject of his Great uncle Richard Meanley Anson who died in a military hospital on The Somme 100 years ago, almost to the very day.
Earlier this year, Desmond Burton contacted me to require if I’d post his research on the subject of a chap called Richard Anson, a Rushall lad who sadly gave his life in battle on the Somme in September 1916 – I was happy to do so, for it’s a fine, exemplary and fascinating piece of research.
Long term readers will no doubt remember the fascinating and remarkable story of Arthur Burton, a local Great War hero, whose story was told by David Evans and Desmond Burton in the early days of this blog.
I ‘d just like to draw attention to a couple of blog posts here for the benefit readers. I know I’ve plugged both of these authors recently, but to be quite honest, their work is blowing me away. We really are living in excellent times for local history – so many people are coming forward with their stories, unhindered by publishers and commercial pressure.
Thanks to the eagle eye of fellow local blogger The Stymaster, I can share the following sale document with readers of the blog. It seems Linley Woods – longstanding subject of reader curiosity hereabouts – is up for sale. Clearly quite a tough pitch for the estate agents, Bruton Knowles, they suggest it may be…
For those following the touching story of Arthur Burton, thanks to David Evans and Desmond Burton, I can now wrap up the final instalment of the local lad’s military tale. David Evans noted in an earlier comment… Arthur Burton’s diary Tuesday 19 September 1916: Arrived at Dover (on board he St. Denis) at 6 AM…
I’m still receiving a large amount of comment and input on the continuing story of Arthur Burton, local hero. I can’t possibly put these contributions into a better narrative than they make themselves, so I’ll run with various contributors as appropriate. First up, Desmond Burton, grandson of Arthur’s older brother Garnet Burton, posted the following…
Just a quick note of thanks and appreciation to top local historian and decent bloke Roger ‘Ziksby’ Jones, who has taken the time to post Arthur Burton’s military records on Flickr so all concerned can inspect them. Roger obtained them via Ancestry.com whose original source was the National Archives. This would have taken no small…
David Evans has been very busy this week supplying a wealth of further material relating to the wonderful history of Arthur Burton MM. First of all, he sent a copy of Arthur’s diary entry relating to White Chateau, Ypres. My experiences on the 30/3/16 at White Chateau, Ypres. This was our 3rd day in the…
There’s been a lot of interest in the touching story of Arthur Burton, the local young man who fought in the first world war, who later farmed land near Brownhills. I took the step of posting a link to the story in Julian Ward Davies’ excellent ‘Stonnall History Group’ on Facebook, as luck would have…
An email arrives again from David Evans, who’s really cooking on gas at the moment. David again supplies some fascinating historical information, for which my gratitude is extended yet again. This actually dovetails nicely with something I’d like to do on the blog in the coming weeks, but I need the readers to help me,…