Today we remember the fallen of City Road Methodist Church, Birmingham

Today it will be my privilege to lead the Remembrance Sunday service at City Road Methodist Church, in Rotton Park, Birmingham.

A few years ago I helped write the Church's centenary story. We were disappointed to find that the plaques kept by the Church during the First and Second World Wars had been lost. As each young man left for active service his name and regiment was inscribed on a plaque. As news of the deaths came in these names were bordered in black.

These plaques were hung on each side of the Lord's Table and placed in front of the Lord's Table on Remembrance Sunday each year until they were lost during building work in the 1980s. We have now done our best to remember those lads, even encountering some unexpected opposition and difficulties.

Fortunately we were able to find the names of those who died in some old paperwork and reinstated the plaques in 2004. Unfortunately our Minister at the time, the Reverend Hannah Heim, objected to their display, even threatening to throw them on the skip, and for the last six years they have been stored in a filing cabinet gathering dust.

On the very first day of the new Conexional year in September 2009 with the Reverend gone and a new team of stewards in place, the names of the City Road fallen were finally reinstated to their rightful place. Today those plaques will again be a centre point of the display on the Lord's Table during the Remembrance Sunday service.

We found six names of those that were killed on active service in the First World War. They were:

H.E Allen
G.H. Bridgett
V.T.Harper
H.Jeffreys
W.Murray
H.Priest

Below I reproduce what we were able to find out about three of these men. Unfortunately as yet we know nothing further of V.T.Harper, H.Jeffreys, or W.Murray.

Private Henry Allen was aged 22 when he died on Monday 21 June 1915 while serving with the Royal Warwick Regiment. He lies buried at Hainualt in Belgium. He left a widow, Rose Allen.

Gunner Horace Priest, then aged 19, the son of B(sic) and Catherine Priest died on Saturday 30 September 1917. Horace was serving with the Royal Garrison Artillery. He is buried at West-Vlaanderen in Belgium.

Sergeant Thomas Bridgett died, aged 28, on Saturday 24 November 1917. He was in the Mechanical Transport Company of the Royal Army Service Corps. He was married to Gertrude and his father Thomas Bridgett lived at 95, City Road. He is buried at Seine-Maritime in France.

There were three men who were killed on active service during the Second World War. They were:

Leslie W Bright
Stanley Hill
M Roy Williams

Trooper Leslie Bright served with the 4th Queen's Own Hussars, Royal Artillery Company. He was killed in the closing days of the war in Europe on Wednesday 11 April 1945 aged 21. He lies buried in Ravenna War Cemetery in Italy. His parents were William and Florence Bright.

Private Stanley Hill served with the 145 Field Ambulance Unit of the Royal Army Medical Corps. Aged 25, he died on 11 October 1939, one of the first casualties of the conflict. His parents Ernest Harry and Rose Ann Hill, were long standing members of the Church. He lies in the Lodge Hill Cemetery, Birmingham.

We have been unable to find anything out about M Roy Williams.

Hopefully future Church historians will be able to build on this information and find out more about the young men who worshiped and died whilst members of the Church. They were our lads and we won't forget them. May they rest in peace.