A WOUNDED soldier discharged from Bromsgrove Cottage Hospital started a fight with an Imperial Yeoman in Worcester when he said the other man was "no class," had been no further than Aldershot and that his kind could not be depended on by this country. The Yeoman knocked the wounded Irish Fusilier down into the gutter and stunned him. George Hughes, the Yeoman, was fined 5s (25p) while the fusilier was fined 2s 6d (12.5p) after Rev G F Hooper testified he suffered from enteric, which made him liable to excitement.

CANDIDATES for the Bromsgrove Urban District Council elections were announced, with the opposition taking out an advertisement criticising councillors' use of rates and promising better cottages and workmen's dwellings and improved sanitation. The Messenger reported a great deal of interest because councillors would serve a three-year term for the first time. They advised electors to follow the candidates carefully and not to underestimate the importance of the contest.

THE annual health report for Bromsgrove revealed a disturbing increase in the death rate. Dr Cameron Kidd explained that the rate of 18 deaths per 1,000 people was partly caused by an influenza outbreak at the beginning of the year.

The lowest recorded infant mortality rate was taken as a sign that public health was improving. Dr Kidd said that mothers taking advice not to give babies bread instead of milk had helped.

A BROMSGROVE inventor won a patent dispute with a London firm over a new type of harness for horses and other animals. John Young, a veterinary surgeon, was awarded the letters of patent by the Controller-General. Margaret Smith, trading as George Smith and Co of the Strand, London, claimed the harness was similar to one they made.

50 years ago

March 17, 1951

A REDNAL woman killed herself after watching a suicide in a Sunday television play, an inquest heard. Eileen Cockle, of Cliff Rock Road, put her head in an oven and gassed herself just as she had seen in the play Dinner at Eight. She was worried that people were talking about her after a recent move to the Midlands from Kent.

COUNCIL tenants who took in lodgers were threatened with extra rent charges by Bromsgrove Urban District Council. Councillors said that there were over 200 people making a profit out of the subsidised houses and they should return some of it to the council. Cllr King said only a small number of low paid workers took in lodgers out of economic necessity.

THE State President of Zurich visited Colmers Farm Secondary Modern School, in Rubery, after an invitation from the British Council. The school flew the Swiss flag as Dr Eric Landolt and his wife were given a tour.

BELBROUGHTON Parish Council warned that children were at risk near Fairfield School because of the increasing numbers of cars. The police had asked the district education committee to consider employing retired people as crossing wardens.

25 years ago

March 12, 1976

AN elderly widow was left shaken after a gas explosion at her Finstall bungalow. Ethel Moon, who lived alone, was rescued from the house by a group of workmen nearby. The roof and the rear part of the bungalow were severely damaged.

WITH cuts to the education budget planned by Hereford and Worcester, pupils at Watt Close Middle School, in Bromsgrove, turned for help from an unlikely source -- Jimmy Savile. The children wrote 100 letters to his TV show Jim'll Fix It and sent a petition on a 22ft scroll to ask him to open their fete. All the proceeds were to go towards decorating two classrooms.

A KARATE expert in Bromsgrove amazed onlookers when he smashed 27 roof tiles with a single blow of his head. Roy Drummond, a first dan black belt from Pennine Road, was demonstrating the martial art at St Goldwald's Karate Club, in Finstall.

A MAN described by the coroner as a "good samaritan" may have had a heart attack while driving a woman to hospital, an inquest heard. Robert Barry, from West Road, Bromsgrove, died after his car hit a lamppost. His passenger suffered two broken ankles. Coroner Dr George Billington recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.