Local History

Remembrance Day

On 11th November 1918 the Armistice was signed between the Allied and German armies, ending World War One – a global war that had lasted four years and extinguished hundreds of thousands of lives.

A pan-BBC Learning campaign to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Armistice, 1918-2008: Ninety Years of Remembrance, will run in the days leading up to 11th November 2008

With the aim of personalising the act of remembrance and bringing World War One vividly alive in the present, 1918-2008: Ninety Years of Remembrance will feature documentaries, dramas and live events across the BBC.

BBC Remembrance site

You will be able to post your artefacts, photographs and memories at the BBC remembrance website on the wall of remembrance.

The Queen

The site also includes links to an array of family history sites, where you will be able to research your relatives' role in the war and delve into their family history as well as learning more about the events of the Great War.

These include a link through to Ancestry who are waiving their charges for the month of November for people to search the remaining British Army WW1 Service and Pension records (otherwise only available by visiting National Archives in Kew) and the British Army WW1 Medal Rolls online.

To visit the BBC Remembrance site:

Sgnt Frank Cooper

Local Hero

Sgnt. Frank Cooper served as an NCO with the 109th Machine Gun Company (190th Brigade, 63rd Royal Naval Division) at the Battle of the Somme, November 1916, and the 63rd (Royal Naval) Battalion Machine Gun Corps on the Western Front from March 1918 during the retreat following the German Spring Offensive.

Read an extract from his memoirs here:

BBC Remembrance West Midlands event - Saturday 8th November @ the National Arboretum

The event runs throughout the day from 10am - 4pm at the National Arboretum in Staffordshire.

You are encouraged to bring in and scan personal memorabilia that can be uploaded on to the BBC's remembrance wall by our staff and volunteers.

There will be extensive information on the various conflicts and episodes that have resulted in loss of life during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Guided tours, both on foot and by land train, will be available throughout the day.

BBC WM's Professor Carl Chin, historian and presenter, will spend the morning chatting with visitors and listening to their wartime experiences.

Remembrace Day wreath

The local Staffordshire Regiment will provide an exhibition of life in the trenches during the First World War and members from the "A Team" RAF Cosford (Ashley, Alan & Arthur - all WW2 veterans) will share their wartime experiences.

Remembrance Events in the Black Country

Wolverhampton

Festival of Remembrance - Sunday 2nd November @ Wulfrun Hall North Street, Wolverhampton. Doors open 3.00pm; event starts 4.00pm

Programme Includes:
Band of the Fires Brigade + Pipes
Parade of Standard Bearers
Male Orpheus Choir
Full Service of Remembrance
Community Singing
Steve Tovey – City Organist
St Peter’s Church Choir
Villiers School (Children)

Tickets £5 - available from the Civic Hall Box Office 0870 320 7000 (calls charges at standard rates). Lines Open Monday – Saturday 10.00am - 6.00pm

Dudley

Armed forces veterans will parade through the streets of Dudley as part of the annual Remembrance Sunday event on Sunday 9th November.

The Mayor of Dudley, Councillor Ray Burston, will lead the council-organised event which will include ex-servicemen and women, community leaders, civic dignitaries and hundreds of people lining the streets.

Courtesy of BFI National Archive

The parade will set off from Vicar Street at 10.30am, making its way along Stone Street and Priory Street. It will continue along Priory Road, saluting the mayor, before stopping at the cenotaph in Coronation Gardens.

The service of remembrance will start a 10.50am at the cenotaph and will include a two-minute silence and the laying of wreaths. The West Midlands Pipe Band and the Salvation Army band will provide the music alongside Dudley Performing Arts brass section.

Road closures

A number of roads in the town will be closed from 8am-1pm to allow the parade to take place. These include Ednam Road, New Street, Tower Street, Priory Street, Stone Street, Parsons Street, High Street, Union Street, Priory Road (from the Broadway to New Street), St James’s Road (from Trinity Road to Priory Street), the Market Place (from Mew Street to Union Street), Wolverhampton Street (from High Street to the Inhedge) and Vicar Street (from Kings Street to High Street). 

Alternative routes include the Broadway, Castle Hill, Castle Gate roundabout, Trindle Road, King Street, Flood Street and New Mill Street or Stafford Street, Wolverhampton Street, the Parade and the Broadway.

Poppy

Parking is available at Stafford Street, Priory Road and Fisher Street car parks.

On Tuesday 11th November there will be an armistice service to remember the victims of the First World War. The mayor will attend the ceremony at the war memorial in Priory Street, under the clock tower, at 11am. It will include a bugler, wreath laying ceremony and a two-minute silence.

Sandwell

The Mayor of Sandwell Councillor Robert Price will lead a ceremony at the war memorial at the Powke Lane Cemetery in Rowley Regis at 10.45am on Sunday 9th November.

Walsall

The Mayor of Walsall will lead a ceremony on November 9th 2008 beginning by laying a wreath at the Careless memorial at 10.20am. At 10.25am the procession will move from the town hall to the cenotaph for the service. After the service the procession will return to the town hall, at 11.10am The Mayor will take the salute. The ceremony will end at approx 11.30am.