HOW A CITY REMEMBERED
THE owner of the Birmingham Post, Sir Charles Hyde, believed in digging deep when it came to supporting city causes.
And the newspaper baron, who was also at the helm of the Birmingham Daily Mail and Weekly Post, certainly showed generosity when it came to remembering those who died in the Great War.
On Armistice Day 100 years ago this week, he presented a £5,000 “thanks offering” to the mayor of Birmingham, the cash used to help disabled soldiers.
He also donated a staggering £10,000 – a fortune in those days – to the University of Birmingham, with the stipulation that some of the windfall should be used to fund therapy for those suffering shellshock.
But perhaps Sir Charles’s greatest legacy was the £10,000 he donated to the Birmingham War Memorial Fund.
That went a long way towards creating the stunning Birmingham Hall of Memory, in Broad Street. Originally planned to be a war museum, it features a Roll of Honour with 12,320 names in a sarcophagus-shaped shrine of Siena marble.
The hall was opened on July 4, 1925, by Prince Arthur of Connaught and the ceremony attracted a 30,000 strong crowd. The BBC provided coverage.
On that day, the Birmingham Post proudly reported: “The Hall of Memory, which the Prince Arthur of Connaught will open to-day, is officially and appropriately described as a Commemoration and a Symbol, set up as a ‘temple of tender memory’.
“It symbolises, in the words of the Prince of Wales, who laid the foundation stone, ‘all that Birmingham stood for during a period of great national crisis’. More particularly it commemorates the sacrifices and contains the Roll of 12,320 local men, attached to many units of the King’s fighting forces, who helped to win the Great War, but did not live to enjoy the hardlywon peace.
“It is to Birmingham what the Cenotaph is to London — a somewhat austere looking yet eloquent and dignified daily reminder that but for the heroism and sacrifices of all classes in keeping unmerciful foes at bay there might be left no British Empire, no corner to be regarded in any real sense as ‘forever England’.
“More than 150,000 men and women of Birmingham responded to the call of their country. Thirtyfive thousand were wounded and, as already indicated, 12,320 laid down their lives.”
The article adds: At the four corners are bronze statues, the work of Mr Albert Toft. These (says the official souvenir) are placed on granite pedestals. They are larger than lifesize and symbolise the Navy, the Army, the Air Force and the Women’s Services. The interior is planned on dignified and simple lines. A shrine of Siena marble occupies the centre of the marble floor. On the shrine rests a glass and bronze casket which contains the Roll of Honour. The title in letters of gold is encircled by a laurel wreath with palms flanking a Crusader’s sword. The frontispiece is richly coloured with a gilt border framing the words: ‘There was none that gave them an ill-word, for they feared God greatly... So they passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for them on the other side.”
Conceived during a 1919 meeting, a public appeal for Hall of Memory funds raised a staggering £50,000.
The Bromsgrove Guild Ltd supplied the main doors, which are just under ten feet high and crafted in mahogany and bronze.
Messrs Hewitt and Co Solihull, laid the outside stones and garden area.
With so many Birmingham residents actively involved in the project, it’s no wonder the opening ceremony sparked such excitement.
The Post reported: “Prince Arthur of Connaught, who performed the formal opening, arrived in Birmingham (Snow Hill) at 1.10pm and proceeded to the Council House after inspecting a guard of honour drawn from the 5th, 6th, and 8th Battalions of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, commanded by Captain JB Hargreave at the Colmore Row exit of the station.
“The Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire (Lord Leigh) presented him to the Lord Mayor. After luncheon, he inspected a Boys’ Brigade guard of honour in Victoria Square before going on to the Hall of Memory, the approach to which was lined by ex-Service men. The actual opening was about three o’clock, and the Duke was presented to the relatives of those who gave their lives, including Mrs Marshall (son Lt-Col JN Marshall VC Irish Guards), Mr Colley (father of Sergeant HJ Colley VC MM).
“The Duke left Birmingham at 4.50. A Naval guard of honour was mounted outside New-street Station. The combined bands of the 5th and 6th Battalions, Royal Warwickshire Regiment played in Victoria Square from 12 noon to 3pm.
“The BBC broadcast the event via microphones and recorded the event using a Western Electric public address system (20 loudspeakers attached to buildings in the area). To broadcast to the crowd in Victoria Square, General Electric Company installed two loudspeakers on the Town Hall, provided by Messrs SG Brown.” Ltd, of paving