G Co 5th Battalion South Staffordshire

The drill hall in Belgrave Terrace, off the Soho Road, Handsworth, is long gone. Although now part of Birmingham, this was the southernmost outpost of G Co. 5th Battalion South Staffordshire; originally the head quarters of the 1st Volunteer Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment.

There was also a drill hall just over the border with Smethwick, at Ninevah Road, which is described under Smethwick.

The Birmingham Weekly Gazette, 1st August, 1914, reported that:

Handsworth Drill Hall was erected by the Staffordshire Territorial Force Association in Nineveh Road. It was built to accommodate the North Midland Mounted Brigade Field Ambulance of the Royal Army Medical Corps.
The front elevation was faced with Stourbridge bricks with Hollington stone dressings and the building contained a drill hall, officer’s room, orderly room, stores, harness room and wagon shed on the ground floor. There was a non-commissioned officers’ room, servery, men’s recreation room and kitchen on the first floor and a caretaker’s quarters on the second floor.

It was opened by Colonel J H Wilkinson on Saturday 25th July, 1914. Major A Goodwin, the commanding officer, presented a key to Colonel Wilkinson when declaring the hall open. In his speech he said that the CA were building twenty drill halls similar to the Handsworth hall at the cost of £60,000.

Thank you to John Gallagher for sourcing the report and illustrations.