T. Grosvenor
Thomas Grosvenor was born on 8th May 1893 and was baptised at Tettenhall Wood Church on 5th June. He was the son of John Grosvenor, a groom / coachman, and his wife Mary. The family lived in Waterworks Lane, Tettenhall and Thomas attended St Michael's School. By 1911 the Grosvenors had moved to Green Hills Lodge, Oaken - at which time Thomas, now 17, was a pupil teacher.
When the war came, Thomas joined the Lincolnshire Regiment and he was commissioned in September, 1915. At some point he became attached to the Royal Flying Corps.
Thomas died at Ostende on 17th September 1917 whilst serving with 57th Sqdn as Observer in a DH4. The daughter of a witness to the event wrote to Thomas' parents:
On September 17th, 1917 at half past nine in the morning my father was watching the flight of the English aeroplane which was flying over the German warships lying just out at sea, they were throwing bombs onto the boats with great success. Unfortunately at the time the wind was very strong and suddenly my father saw this aeroplane caught in the wind and thrown into the sea; and the two aviators drowned. A boat was sent at once to rescue them, but it was too late, they were already dead when brought out of the water. They were then taken to the mortuary and my father was ordered to look after the bodies and to bury them. He made a careful search, in looking he found no scratch or hurt on either of their bodies.
Lieutenant Thomas Grosvenor is buried in Oostende New Communal Cemetery. He was awarded the Victory and British War Medals.
This memorial has mostly been compiled from official sources. It would be good to be able to expand it with more personal material - memories, stories, photos, etc. If you have any suitable material or any corrections please contact Greg.