Birmingham (Witton) Cemetery
- Country United Kingdom
- Total identified casualties 690 Find these casualties
- Region Warwickshire
- Identified casualties from First & Second World War
- GPS Coordinates Latitude: 52.52644, Longitude: -1.8833
Location information
The cemetery is located approximately 4 miles north east of the City, near Upper Witton.
History information
The First World War saw four important hospitals - besides many smaller - posted at Birmingham: the 1st Southern General (3,500 beds) was in the university and other buildings, with a section at Stourbridge; the 2nd/1st Southern General (1,800 beds) in the Dudley Road Infirmary and in billets; the 1st Birmingham War Hospital (1,000 beds) at Rubery Hill Asylum and the 2nd Birmingham War Hospital (900 beds) at Hollymoor Asylum.
Military hospitals were at Birmingham again during the Second World War, including No 7 Canadian Hospital at Marston Green. Birmingham and Coventry were among the chief manufacturing areas producing materials for the war effort and were subjected to many devastating air raids during the Blitz of 1940-41.
Birmingham (Witton) Cemetery contains 459 First World War burials, more than 200 of which form three denominational war plots marked by Screen Walls bearing the names of those buried there and in graves elsewhere in the cemetery which could not be individually marked. The small plot in Sections 55 and 56 contains only 31 of the 224 Second World War burials, the rest being scattered throughout the cemetery. Twelve names were added to the Screen Walls in the First World War plots to commemorate those Second World War casualties buried in graves that could not be marked indivdually.