William Stanley Morgan (1888-1915) was born in Bordsley. He was the second of three children born to John Crutchley Morgan, a grocer, and Annie Beatrice Holworthy.
He was baptised in St. Andrews Church, Bordsley on the 20th May of that year. In 1892 the youngest son died, aged 14 months, from bronchitis and infantile convulsions. His older brother, Reginald, died in 1923 as a result of a pulmonary haemorrhage from tuberculosis. The family moved from Bordesley to Castle Bromwich sometime between 1901 and 1912. Trade directories show John Crutchley Morgan living at Coniston, The Green, Castle Bromwich in 1912, and Fairview, Castle Bromwich in 1913. The family had moved back to Bordesley Green by 1916.
World War I
Mobilisation
On the outbreak of war in August 1914 the units of the South Midland Division had just set out for annual training when orders recalled them to their home depots for mobilisation. 6th Royal Warwicks mobilised at Thorpe Street under its commanding officer (CO) Lt-Col E. Martineau. The division then concentrated around Chelmsford where it formed part of Central Force. While the battalions trained for overseas service, so-called 2nd-Line battalions were authorised on 31 August to be formed at the home depots from men who either had not volunteered for overseas service or were unfit, together with the recruits flooding in. Thus the parent battalion at Chelmsford was designated the 1/6th Bn, that at Birmingham was the 2/6th Bn. Later a 3rd-Line or reserve battalion was also formed to train drafts for the other two. William Stanley Morgan enlisted into the army in October 1914, joining the 1/6th Royal Warwicks.
1/6th Royal Warwicks
The South Midland Division was selected to proceed to France to join the British Expeditionary Force early in 1915, and the 1/6th Royal Warwicks disembarked at Le Havre at the beginning of April. Within days it began learning the routine of trench warfare around St Yves, Messines and Ploegsteert. On 12 May the division was designated the 48th (South Midland) Division and the brigade became the 143rd (Warwickshire) Brigade. The battalion later moved south to a section of the line around Hébuterne, Foncquevillers and Gommecourt. It was still in this area a year later when the Battle of the Somme began.
1/5th and 1/6th and 1/7th Battalion Territorial Force
04.08.1914 The 1/5th and 1/6th were both stationed at Birmingham while the 1/7th was stationed at Coventry at the outbreak of war. All Battalion were part of the Warwickshire Brigade of the South Midland Division and then moved to Chelmsford.
22.03.1915 Mobilised for war and landed at Havre were the formation became the 143rd Brigade of the 48th Division and engaged in various actions on the Western Front including;
During 1916
The Battle of Albert, The Battle of Bazentin Ridge, The Battle of Pozieres Ridge, The Battle of the Ancre Heights, The Battle of the Ancre.
28-year-old William Stanley Morgan was killed in action on 6th June 1916, serving as a Corporal with the 1st/6th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment. His death was reported in the local newspaper:
He is buried at Hebuterne Military Cemetery in France and is also commemorated locally on the Castle Bromwich village war memorial, and on the plaque in St Mary and St Margaret Church, Castle Bromwich. There is also a dedication to his memory on his brother Reginald’s grave in the graveyard opposite St Mary and St Margaret Church.
