Roath Local History Society is indebted to military and rugby historian Gwyn Prescott for sharing with us his extensive research on the men behind the names on the Cardiff High School War Memorial.  Gwyn has allowed us to reproduce his research below for which we are very grateful.

(The memorial is dedicated to those who lost their lives in WWI.  The names of the past pupils that lost their lives in WWII are recorded at the foot of this page.)

The Cardiff High School war memorial was unveiled at a special service on 22^nd November 1922, by Sir Henry de Beauvoir De Lisle KCB, KMG, DSO, who was the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Command. It was dedicated by the Bishop of Llandaff, the Right Rev Joshua Pritchard Hughes DD. The ceremony was chaired by the Lord Mayor, Alderman Dr J J E Biggs JP; and the Last Post and Reveille were played by two sergeants from the Welch Regiment.

The bronze tablet was funded by public subscription to which parents, old boys and members of the school contributed.  It was originally located in a prominent position behind the dais in what was then known as the Main Hall. This later became the “Old Hall” in 1932 when the school was extended with what was called the “New Building”, including the “New Hall”. The “Old Building” was demolished after the High School moved to Llanishen in 1970. The war memorial tablet was removed to the Llanishen campus at this time and it was eventually remounted there in 2006 after being restored. 

Though the memorial records the names of the masters who died before those of the the old boys, the following lists all the names alphabetically. It also includes three old boys who were omitted from the memorial. Though “Welch” Regiment is used on the memorial, during the war the official name of the regiment was “Welsh” and it was not renamed “Welch” until 1920, so “Welsh” has been used here. Where an incorrect regiment has been recorded on the memorial, this has been pointed out. ,

WILLIAM REGINALD ALLEN

W/108 Corporal Y.40 Trench Mortar Battery, Royal Field Artillery, 40^th Division.

William “Reggie” Allen was born on 6^th June 1897 in Pencoed, near Bridgend, the eldest son of George and Catherine Allen, 27 Cumberland Street, Canton. His father was a railway employee. Reggie attended Radnor Road Council School and then Cardiff High School from September 1908. After school, he was engaged by the solicitors Heard, Son and Clogg at 5 Windsor Place. Reggie was a chorister and Sunday school teacher at St. Luke’s Church, Canton and is commemorated the St. John’s Church, Canton war memorial. He enlisted in Cardiff early in the war at 17 and was later recommended for a commission. Corporal William Allen was killed in action, aged 20, while continuing to work his mortar under heavy shellfire on 22^nd September 1917. The gunner in charge of the next mortar had been wounded and Reggie helped to carry him away and then took charge of the two mortars. Whilst at the second, a shell hit the emplacement and he was killed instantaneously. He is buried in Fins New British Cemetery, Somme, France (I.AA.2).

Western Mail 13.10.17 photo and 15.10.17; South Wales Daily News 28.09.17 and 15.11.17 photo; South Wales Echo 28.09.17, 15.10.17 and 21.09.18.

RAYMOND BIRD

Second Lieutenant 1/4^th (City of Bristol) Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, 144^th Brigade, 48^th (South Midland) Division.

Formerly 3250 Private Inns of Court Officer Training Corps.

Raymond Bird was born on 27^th August 1890 in Cardiff, the only son of Frederick Graham and Mary Bird, 106 Newport Road, Roath and later Cranmore, Radyr. He entered Cardiff High School in 1901, when his family were living at St. Elmo, Radyr. Raymond was employed in the family chemical manufacturing business, Bird and Sons in Cardiff.  In November 1915, he married Alice Smith of Fairoak Road and later Ambleside, Lake Road West, Roath Park. He is commemorated on war memorials in Trinity Methodist Church, Four Elms Road, Roath and St. John’s Church, Canton and on memorial tablets in St. John’s Church, Canton and Christ Church, Radyr. He joined the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps at Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire as an Officer Cadet on 12^th April 1915. Raymond was then commissioned in the Gloucestershire Regiment on 2^nd August 1915 and posted to the 3/4^th Battalion stationed at Weston-Super-Mare. He went out to France on 29^th May 1916 and joined the 1/4^th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment, Territorial Force. Raymond Bird was killed in action, aged 25, by shell-fire during an entirely unsuccessful attack at the Leipzig Redoubt, near Ovilliers, during the Battle of the Somme on 16^th August 1916. He was at first reported missing but a wounded soldier recuperating in hospital told Raymond’s wife that he had been with him when he was hit by a shell and that he had remained with him for four hours until he died. He is buried in Pozieres British Cemetery, France (IV.A.52) and is commemorated on the Radyr War Memorial.

Western Mail 19.08. 16, 23.8.16 photo and 19.9.16; South Wales Echo 18.08.16, 22.08.16 photo; South Wales Daily News 18.08.16,  22.08.16.

WILLIAM BLACK

Engineer Lieutenant HMS Natal, Royal Navy.

William Black was born on 6^th January 1885 in Cardiff, the only son of William and Alice Black of 80 Richards Terrace, Roath but by 1891 the family had moved to 235 Newport Road, Roath. His father was a superintendent marine engineer. William attended Cardiff Municipal Secondary School, Howard Gardens from 1895 to 1898 and then Cardiff High School from September 1898, when he was in the school’s first ever intake . He left in December 1900 to follow his father’s profession and started work as an apprenticed engineer. He took an extra first class engineers certificate at South Shields in 1911 and later qualified as a naval architect. He was employed as a consulting engineer at Cardiff docks and, on the death of his father in 1912, he succeeded him in the business. In September 1915, he was appointed Engineer Lieutenant RN. William Black was killed, aged 30, when HMS Natal accidentally exploded with great loss of life in Cromarty Firth on 31^st December 1915. Over four hundred died. Though it was at first assumed she had been torpedoed it was later concluded that the cause was an internal ammunition explosion, possibly the result of faulty cordite. Engineer Lieutenant William Black is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial to the Missing and also on family gravestones in Cathays Cemetery and in Kinghorn, Fife, where his family originated. He is also commemorated on the war memorial in the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Broadway, Roath.

Western Mail 3.1.16 photo; South Wales Daily News 1.01.16. http://www.thecromartyarchive.org/picture/number139.asp  http://www.thecromartyarchive.org/picture/number140.asp

HAROLD BLOW

Lieutenant HMS Black Prince, Royal Naval Reserve.

 Harold Blow was born on 3^rd December 1888 in Cardiff, the only son of Walter and Bessie Blow, 64 Cathedral Road, Cardiff. His father was a local ship-owner and stockbroker. He attended Cardiff High School for three years from January 1901 to December 1903, when his family was living at 120 Cathedral Road. After school he went to sea, serving from 1904 as an apprentice deck officer in the Mercantile Marine with the Leyland Line, sailing mostly from Liverpool. In 1910, he gained his first mate’s certificate and then joined W& CT Jones Steamship Company of Cardiff. Two years later, he passed his extra master’s certificate exams at the earliest age on record at that time. He then joined Cunard and served as a junior officer on the luxury transatlantic service in famous ships such as the Campania, the Mauretania and the Lusitania, which was torpedoed with great loss of life in 1915. While on Mediterranean service for Cunard in August 1914, Harold was arrested at Trieste by the Austrians the day war was declared. Released because his arrest was illegal, he then made his way to Malta where – having joined the Royal Naval Reserve as a midshipman in 1908 – he joined the cruiser HMS Defence. After the Defence returned to Britain in September 1915, he was transferred to HMS Mars, an old battleship converted into a troop ship. Harold was involved in the evacuation of troops from Gallipoli, first from Suvla in December 1915 and, a few weeks later, from Helles. He was then posted to HMS Black Prince on 30 March 1916. Only two months later, Harold Blow was killed in action, aged 27, in the Battle of Jutland on 31^st May 1916. The badly damaged and struggling Black Prince was caught alone and sunk by German battleships on 31^st May 1916. She blew up in a great explosion and all 857 crew died. Lieutenant Harold Blow is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial to the Missing and on a memorial in Wimborne Road Cemetery, Bournemouth.

Western Mail 1.2.15 photo, 3.6.16, 5.6.16 photo; South Wales Daily News 3.6.16, 6.6.16 photo.

HUBERT SAMUEL EMERY BOND

Lieutenant 42^nd Training Squadron Royal Flying Corps.

Formerly Second Lieutenant 7^th (Cyclist) Battalion The Welsh Regiment.

Hubert Bond was born on 28^th September 1893 in Cardiff, the son of Samuel and Cecilia Bond, 9 The Walk, Tredegarville. He attended Cardiff High School from 1905. From school he went to University College Cardiff, in 1911 and, after university, he was articled to Sydney Jenkins and Howells, solicitors, Cardiff. He joined the Law Society as a probationer in May 1915.  He was commissioned Second Lieutenant to the 7^th (Cyclist) Battalion Welsh Regiment, Territorial Force on 19^th August 1915 and transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in October 1916. Hubert Bond died, aged 23, at the Royal Flying Corps Hospital, 37 Bryanston Square, London on 17^th June 1917. He died of injuries received in a flying accident at Hounslow three days earlier, 14^th June, when his RE8 broke up while diving at an abnormal speed and nosedived into the ground. He was buried with full military honours in Cathays Cemetery, Cardiff (J.CE.1385). He is commemorated on the war memorial in Cardiff University and also on the St. James Church, Newport Road, war memorial (now located in St. John’s Church, Trinity Street).

Western Mail 19.6.17 photo, 23.6.17; South Wales Daily News 19.6.17 photo, 23.6.17.

ALAN THOMPSON WATT BOSWELL

Second Lieutenant 108^th Squadron Royal Air Force.

Formerly 15067 Sergeant 11^th (Service) Battalion (Cardiff Pals Commercial) The Welsh Regiment.

Alan Boswell was born on 3^rd May 1890 in Charlton near Woolwich, Kent, the son of James and Jane Boswell, 58 Llanfair Road, Canton. His father was a master gunner in the artillery. Alan was a brother of Percy Boswell (q.v.). He attended Cardiff High School from 1901 to 1907 where he played hockey, football and cricket. Having been awarded Craddock Wells and Drapers Company scholarships, he went on to University College Cardiff where he graduated in science in 1910. Alan then took up an appointment as a science master at Canton Municipal Secondary School. . He was a very remarkable all-round sportsman. He played hockey for Whitchurch and University College Cardiff and was capped by Wales in 1909-10 against Scotland (lost 3-2 at Wrexham), Ireland (lost 8-1 at Cork) and England (lost 6-0 at Swansea). He was also an amateur football international, winning three Welsh caps against England in 1912 (lost 3-0 at Bishop Auckland), 1913 (lost 3-1 at Llandudno) and 1914 (lost 9-0 at Plymouth). Alan played for Cardiff City as an amateur and for Cardiff Corinthians, whom he captained when they won the Welsh Amateur Cup in 1914. He also played rugby for University College Cardiff and had a few games on the wing for Cardiff Reserves in the 1910-11 season. However, “Boswell, who showed real promise on the wing for the Cardiff Reserves in the earlier matches of the season, has gone back to the soccer game.” He played cricket for the Cardiff Alpha club and once, in 1914, for Glamorgan County Cricket Club. He enlisted in Cardiff in the Cardiff Pals Battalion, served as a sergeant (15067) in the Salonika campaign. In August 1917, he attended No 2 Officer Cadet Battalion based at Pembroke College Cambridge and while there he rowed for the D Company VIII in the OCB regatta held on the Cam. Later that year, he was commissioned into  the Royal Flying Corps. He was posted to 108 Squadron on 22 July 1918. Second Lieutenant Alan Boswell was killed in action, age 28, while piloting a DH9 on a bombing raid on 2^nd October 1918.  He was last seen at 3000 feet west of Menin. He is commemorated on the Flying Services Memorial to the Missing, Arras, France. He is also commemorated on the war memorials in Cardiff University and City Hall (Cardiff Corporation).  In addition there is a stained glass window in St Catherine’s church Canton erected to the memory of him and his brother (see below) paid for by their friends.

However, recent research has suggested that his body may have originally been buried by the Germans at Geluwe, west of Menin and was recovered and reburied in 1919 as that of an unknown RFC pilot at Duhallow Advanced Dressing Station Cemetery, Ypres. (Grave 9.B.9).  This case has now been agreed and the MoD will be holding a ceremony (with family attending) in June 2022.

A new memorial to all rugby players who died in the Great War was dedicated at Craonnelle, Aisne, France in September 2017. Alan Thompson Watt Boswell’s name is commemorated in the accompanying Roll of Honour.

Evening Express 19.11. 10; South Wales Daily News 28.5.15 photo, 21.5.19; South Wales Echo 11.1.19; Western Mail 12.7.19.

PERCY WILLIAM INNES BOSWELL

1764 Sergeant 1/6^th Battalion Manchester Regiment, 127^th Brigade, 42^nd (East Lancashire) Division.

 Percy Boswell was born on 31^st July 1892 in Tenby, the son of James and Jane Boswell, 58 Llanfair Road, Canton. He was a brother of Alan Boswell (q.v.). He attended Cardiff High School from 1902 and later was awarded Craddock Wells and Drapers Company scholarships to University College Cardiff. He began his studies there in 1908, and eventually graduated in science. Like his brother he was a keen sportsman and Percy is known to have played cricket for the High School and hockey with Alan for the university. He enlisted in Manchester and served in Gallipoli from 5^th May 1915, where he was recommended for a commission. Initially reported missing, Percy Boswell was killed in action, aged 23, during the Battle of Krithia on 7^th August 1915. He is commemorated on the Helles Memorial to the Missing, Gallipoli, Turkey. He is also commemorated on the war memorial in Cardiff University and on the Stretford War Memorial, Manchester.  In addition there is a stained glass window in St Catherine’s church Canton erected to the memory of him and his brother (see above) paid for by their friends.

South Wales Daily News 1.3.11; Western Mail 7.9.15 photo.

JOHN ANTONIO SANCHEZ BOYLE

Second Lieutenant 2/1^st (Lancashire) Heavy Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery.

Formerly Private South African Field Ambulance.

John Boyle was born in Montrose, Scotland on 10^th March 1888, the son of Hugh and Aurora Boyle (nee Sanchez). The family were living in Woolwich in 1891 but had moved to Cardiff by 1899. There they lived at 4 Whitchurch Road, opposite Maindy barracks where his father worked as a military clerk. His mother, who was Spanish, ran a grocer’s shop. The family later moved to Atcham, Shrewsbury. John attended Crwys Road Council School; Cardiff Municipal Secondary School, Howard Gardens, from 1898 until 1899; and then Cardiff High School, on a scholarship, from 1899 until 1904. He went to University College Cardiff in 1906 and took a First Class Honours degree and was awarded the Gladstone History Prize. After university he became a master at West Leeds Boys High School where he taught history for five years from 1909 to 1914. John then moved the Cape Colony, South Africa to teach. However, when the war broke out, he volunteered for service in West Africa, but was initially engaged on garrison duty until August 1915. John then served with a South African Field Ambulance in Egypt and on the Western Front until February 1917. Selected for a commission, he was gazetted to the Royal Garrison Artillery on 1^st August 1917. Second Lieutenant John Boyle was killed in action, aged 29, on 30^th November 1917 during the Battle of Cambrai. He is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial to the Missing, France. He is also commemorated on the war memorial in Cardiff University.

Photo: https://astreetnearyou.org/person/1751407/Second-Lieutenant-John-Antonio-Sanchez-Boyle

https://www.pagesofthesea.org.uk/soldier/john-antonio-sanchez-boyle/

John Boyle is not commemorated on the Cardiff High School war memorial.

ALISTER  (ALASDAIR) NORMAN BROWN

Lieutenant 4^th Canadian Mounted Rifles, 8^th Brigade, 3^rd Canadian Division.

Formerly 141820 Company Quarter Master Sergeant 76^th Battalion Canadian Infantry.

Alister Brown was born on 2^nd November 1886 in Malvern, Worcestershire, the eldest son of Archibald and Alice Georgina Brown, later of 107 Plymouth Road, Penarth. His father was the manager of Lloyds Bank, Cardiff Docks. Alister’s brother Major William Reid Brown Royal Garrison Artillery was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in the war and was also an Old Boy of Cardiff High School.  Alister entered Cardiff High School in January 1901 and later went to Canada to work as an accountant. (In Canada he seems to have adopted “Alasdair” as his forename and that is the name under which he is recorded in subsequent military records). He was married to Etheleen Clara Brown, and they lived with their three children at 312 Pape Avenue, Toronto, Ontario. He served for two years in the 48^th Highlanders and was then taken on the strength of the 76^th Battalion at Niagara, Ontario on 2^nd September 1915. He embarked for Europe from Halifax, Nova Scotia on 23^rd April 1916 and served as a Company Quarter Master Sergeant before being commissioned in 1917. He joined the 4^th Canadian Mounted Rifles, which was an infantry unit, in the field on the 27^th June 1918. During the Battle of the Scarpe, on 26 August 1918, while attacking Orange Hill, north-east of Monchy-le-Preux, Lieutenant Alasdair [sic] Brown was killed in action, aged 31, by “friendly fire” from a British machine-gun barrage which swept too far to the right of the left flank of his battalion .  He is buried in Orange Hill Cemetery, Feuchy, France (Plot A.1). He is commemorated on the Penarth war memorial. He had been a member of All Saints Church, Penarth and so is also commemorated on the war memorial in St. Augustine’s Church, Penarth.

South Wales Echo 13.9.18 and 16.9.18 photo; South Wales Daily News 14.9.18 and 16.9.19 photo; Western Mail 17.9.18.

See: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSvcid=445919&GRid=24180315&

for his photograph as a QMS.

 

HAROLD JACKSON BROWN

300916 Sergeant 395^th Company Mechanical Transport, Royal Army Service Corps.

Formerly Army Service Corps Mechanical Transport Reserve Depot, Grove Park.

Harold Brown was born on 17^th February 1899 in Leicester, the only child of Jonathon and Alice Brown, who later lived at 1 Deri Road, Roath Park. His father was a commercial traveller and also military man. In 1901 his father joined the Imperial Yeomanry and served in South Africa. His father was also later to serve in WWI in the Dorset Regiment.  Harold was unmarried. He attended Marlborough Road Council School and then Cardiff High School from January 1911 until July 1914. After school, Harold was employed as a motor fitter and driver. He attested in Cardiff on 12^th March 1917 and was posted two days later to the Army Service Corps Mechanical Transport Reserve Depot, Grove Park, London, as a fitter. He served on the Western Front from 27^th April 1918 and afterward in the Army of Occupation in Germany until 19^th November 1919. He then remained in the Army in Britain but suffered from a disability caused by illness or injury and was discharged on 8^th February 1920. He died on 19 Feb 1921 aged 22 and his death registered in Marylebone, London. His mother applied for his medals in April 1921. Harold Jackson Brown is one of the names recorded on a roll of honour for St. Margaret’s Church, Roath,  published in November 1921 Harold Brown is not commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and his place of burial is currently unknown. He is commemorated on the war memorial in St. Edward’s Church, Roath.

REGINALD CHARLES COOKE M.C. Mentioned in Despatches

Second Lieutenant 9^th (Service) Battalion Welsh Regiment, 58^th Brigade, 19^th (Western) Division.

Formerly Private 11^th (Service) Battalion (Cardiff Pals Commercial) Welsh Regiment.

Reginald Cooke was born on 17^th June 1886 in Cardiff, the son of Charles and Annie Cooke, East Lynne, Station Road, Llanishen, Cardiff, and later of Brunel House, Weston-Super-Mare and then 22 Marlborough Hill, St. John’s Wood, London. He entered Cardiff High School in the first ever intake with roll number 5 in September 1898 and remained there until July 1901. Reginald then attended Bristol Grammar School until 1903. After school, he served his articles with Bolton and Davidson, solicitors, in Bristol and, after qualifying in March 1911, practised as a solicitor in Weston-Super-Mare and then in 1913 took up a partnership in the law firm of W.B. Francis and Cooke, 31 Queen Street, Cardiff.  Reginald was a very fine hockey player for Weston-Super-Mare, Llanishen and Somerset and he won four Welsh international hockey caps as a forward in 1912-13 (v Scotland  at Wrexham  lost 1-3) and 1913-14 (v Ireland at Whitchurch lost 1-2; v Scotland at Aberdeen won 3-1; and v England at Weston-Super-Mare lost 2-6). The victory over Scotland was Wales’ first against them in nine years. Reginald enlisted in August 1914 in Cardiff as a private in the Cardiff Pals; was gazetted to the 9^th Battalion Welsh Regiment on 10^th April 1915; and went to the Western Front in October 1915. He was twice Mentioned in Despatches and was awarded the Military Cross in June 1916 for repeatedly cutting the enemy’s wire under heavy fire. Second Lieutenant Reginald Cooke was killed in action, aged 30, in the 19^th Division’s assault on trenches at Bailiff Wood near Contalmaison during the Battles of the Somme on 7^th July 1916. Many of the attacking troops here were caught by their own creeping artillery barrage. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing, France.

Western Mail 17.7.16; South Wales Daily News 15.7.16; South Wales Echo 15.7.16.

HUBERT RAY CORFIELD

Lieutenant 266^th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, 53^rd (Welsh) Division.

 Hubert Corfield was born on 5^th October 1894 in Penarth, the fifth and youngest son of William and Margaret Corfield, 131 Cathedral Road, Pontcanna and St. Lawrence House, Mounton Road, Chepstow. His father was a prominent Cardiff shipowner and onetime chairman of the Cardiff Shipowners Association. Hubert attended Cardiff High School from September 1909 and played for the cricket XI. In 1911, he entered University College Cardiff.   In mid-1914, he went to the USA to join three of his brothers who were farming in Buhl, Idaho. After war broke out, they all returned home to enlist. His brothers Captain Roger Bark Corfield (RFC and RAF), and Private William Francis Corfield (London Scottish) and his half-brother Captain Christian Reginald Corfield (Royal Engineers) all went on active service. In 1915 Hubert joined the 4^th Welsh Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, which later became 266 Brigade RFA. He went on active service in July 1916 and on 5^th November 1917, when aged 23, he died of wounds received in the Capture of Tell Khuweilfe during the Invasion of Palestine. He had been despatched with a party of signallers to another battery. Following a telephone line they ran into some Turkish soldiers who opened fire at close range and he was shot. Lieutenant Hubert Corfield is buried in Beersheba War Cemetery, Israel. He is commemorated on the war memorial in Cardiff University and on the St. Arvan’s Church, Chepstow war memorial.

Western Mail 9.11.17. 10.11.17photo and 4.1.18; South Wales Echo 9.11.17; South Wales Daily News 9.11.17, 5.3.18 and 31.12.18.

JOHN HAROLD COURTIS Mentioned in Despatches

Captain 1^st Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, 17^th (Ahmednagar) Brigade, 6^th (Poona) Division, Indian Army.

 John Courtis was born on 25^th July 1888 in Llanishen, the eldest son of Sir John and Lady Marian Courtis of Fairwater Croft, Fairwater Road, Llandaff. He was unmarried. His father was a stockbroker and was Lord Mayor of Cardiff in 1911-12. His brothers Captain Walter Stuart Courtis (Royal Engineers) and Surgeon Lieutenant Alan Osborne Courtis (Royal Navy) served in the war. They both also attended Cardiff High School. His sister Elsie Agnes Courtis was an ambulance driver with the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry on the Western Front and she was awarded the Military Medal for rescuing the wounded during an air raid on the night of 18/19^th  May 1918. Another sister worked at a YMCA canteen in France.  John attended Llandaff Cathedral School; Cardiff High School for a year from 17^th January until December 1901; Repton School from January 1902 to April 1907; and the Royal Military College Sandhurst from 1908 to 1909. A good shot, he was in the VIII at Repton in 1906 and at Sandhurst. He was gazetted Second Lieutenant to the 1^st Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in February 1909 and was promoted Lieutenant in November 1912. John served in Burma and India from 1909. In November 1914, his battalion was part of the Indian Expeditionary Force which went to the Persian Gulf where he became brigade machine-gun officer. After his promotion to Captain in June 1915, he was appointed to the 17^th Brigade staff. He was twice Mentioned in Despatches for gallant and distinguished service in the field.  Captain John Courtis was killed in action, aged 27, by sniper-fire, whilst carrying a message from the headquarters staff to his colonel, in the Battle of Ctesiphon during the advance on Baghdad on 22^nd November 1915. He is commemorated on the Basra Memorial to the Missing, Iraq. He is also commemorated on the Llandaff war memorial (Cathedral School panel); on the war memorial in Llandaff Cathedral; on the Repton School war memorial and on a family grave-marker in Cathays Cemetery.

Western Mail 29.11.15photo; South Wales Echo 9.9.17; Cardiff Times 16.3.18; The Times 29.11.15

Photo here (scroll down “Web Version”): http://www.illustratedfirstworldwar.com/item/dead-on-the-field-of-honour-officers-killed-in-action-iln0-1915-1218-0005-001/

ARTHUR TREVOR DAVIES

Captain 1/5^th Battalion Welsh Regiment attached 1/8^th (City of London) Battalion London Regiment (Post Office Rifles), 140^th Brigade, 47^th (2^nd London) Division.

Formerly Private Public Schools Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.

Arthur Davies was born on 31^st October 1892 in Manchester, the only son of David Walter Davies, later of Bryngollen, 34 Ty Draw Road, Penylan. His father was the district manager of the Commercial Union Assurance Company. Arthur attended Cardiff Municipal Secondary School, Howard Gardens from 1901 to 1903 and then entered Cardiff High School in 1904. At that time, his family were living at 55 Oakfield Street, Roath. A good cricketer, he was captain of games at the High School. He was a member of the Plasnewydd Presbyterian Church, Keppoch Street, Roath. Arthur was also a member of Radyr Golf Club. At the beginning of the war, he was in his fourth year of articles with the Cardiff solicitor Evan Davies and was preparing to sit his final examinations in 1914. Arthur enlisted as a private in the early months of the war in one of the four Public Schools battalions of the Royal Fusiliers and was later commissioned in the Welsh Regiment. He took several courses at Altcar and became a machine gun and musketry instructor. When stationed at Penally, near Tenby, he took part in concerts and reviews. He went out to the Western Front on the 25^th October 1916 and was attached to the 1/8^th Battalion London Regiment and was appointed machine-gun officer and instructor. His division took part in the successful Battle of Messines in June 1917 when nineteen mines were detonated under the German lines. By 14^th June, the entire Messines Salient had been captured. On the first day of the battle, the 47^th Division met strong opposition when crossing the Ypres-Comines Canal but still secured all their objectives. It was during this operation that Arthur Davies was killed in action, age 24, on the 7^th June 1917. He is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial to the Missing, Belgium.

South Wales Echo 12.6.17; Western Mail 13.6.17 photo; South Wales Daily News 13.6.17 and 14.6.17 photo.

JOHN LLEWELYN DAVIES

Major 11^th (Service) Battalion Essex Regiment, 71^st Brigade, 24^th Division.

 John Llewelyn Davies was born in St Ishmaels, Ferryside, Carmarthenshire on 10^th September 1879, the son of David J. Davies, 8 Rugby Avenue, Neath. His father was the headmaster of Melyn School, Neath. John was educated at Alderman Davies School, Neath; University College Aberystwyth from 1899; and Emmanuel College Cambridge from 1901 until 1904, where he was a scholar and where he took his degree in Natural Sciences. He was elected to the Chemical Society in 1905. Before going to university, he had taught at Alderman Davies School 1898-9. After graduating, he became a science and mathematics tutor at Carmarthen Training College 1905-6 and then senior science master at the Perse School Cambridge from 1906 until 1915. He was appointed headmaster of Cardiff High School for Boys in May 1915, but was immediately given leave of absence to serve with the military on active service. As a result, he never actually took up the headmastership of the High School. Whilst at Aberystwyth, he had served in the 5^th Volunteer Battalion South Wales Borderers. He had also been a lieutenant in the Perse School Cadet Corps for seven years, when he joined the 11^th Bn. Essex Regiment as a captain at the outbreak of war. He was gazetted major in April 1915. Shortly after marrying Isabella Fraser, John went overseas on 30^th August 1915. Years later, he was recalled as an “indispensable” and “first class” officer by one former soldier in a published account of the Battle of Loos.  He was listed wounded and missing during the battle. The Red Cross reported that Major John Llewelyn Davies had died of wounds in German hands at Wesel, Germany. A fellow officer wrote: “He was such a fine soldier, and [all his men] had such implicit confidence in him. He was so capable and absolutely to be relied on. The regiment feels very much his loss, for he was one of the ablest officers.” His official date of death is given as 25^th September 1915, the day on which the Battle of Loos opened. However, it appears that he may have been mortally wounded on the 26^th and, as he died in Germany as a prisoner of war, his death must have occurred later. He was 36. His grave was subsequently lost so he is commemorated on the Loos Memorial to the Missing, Dud Corner, France.  He is also commemorated on war memorials in Aberystwyth University; Emmanuel College Cambridge; Perse School Cambridge; and the Royal Society of Chemistry, Burlington House, London.

South Wales Daily News 15.5.15 and 17.5.15photo, 27.11.15; Western Mail 15.5.15photo, 8.10.15, 9.10.15photo and 27.11.15; The Times 27.11.15.

See photo: IWM: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205293250

We have a blog that details much more about the life of J L Davies. 

WILLIAM NORMAN DAVIES

6139 Private 15^th (County of London) Battalion London Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Own Civil Service Rifles) attached 2/20^th (County of London) Battalion London Regiment (Blackheath and Woolwich), 180^th Brigade, 60^th (2/2^nd London) Division.

Formerly Private 24650 12^th (Reserve) Battalion The Essex Regiment.

William Davies was born on 7^th February 1894 in Cardiff, the son of Thomas Davies, Pelcombe, Ty Draw Road, Roath Park. His father was a tailor at 7 Queen Street, Cardiff. One of William’s brothers, Private H. Davies (Canadian Expeditionary Force) was wounded in the war and another served in the Army. William entered Cardiff High School in September 1906. When he volunteered, he was living in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. He enlisted in London and joined the 12^th (Reserve) Battalion Essex Regiment. He was later attached to the 2/20^th Battalion London Regiment which embarked from Southampton for France on 26^th June 1916. On 12^th July, the battalion took over trenches near Neuville Saint Vaast. Private William Norman Davies was killed in action on 30 July 1916. He was 22. He is buried near Neuville Saint Vaast at Ecoivres Military Cemetery, Mont-St. Eloi, Pas de Calais, France. He is commemorated on the Roath Park Wesleyan Church war memorial.

Western Mail 17.8.16 and 18.8.16; South Wales Daily News 17.8.16.

(At the time William Davies died, the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was a Royal Army Medical Corps private serving with the 2/4^th London Field Ambulance, 60^th Division (the same Division as William Davies) based at Ecoivres. The landscape around there inspired his Pastoral Symphony which is often used to accompany television documentaries about the First World War.)

HARRY FRANK DYER

Second Lieutenant 1/6^th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment), 147^th Brigade, 49^th (West Riding) Division.

Harry Dyer was born in 1886 in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, the second son of the Reverend William and Emma Dyer, later of New Barnet, Hertfordshire. His father was a Baptist minister. Harry was educated at Bridgnorth Grammar School. In 1904 he obtained an entrance sizarship at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and at the end of his second year he was made a scholar of the college. In 1907, Harry graduated First Senior Optime (highest second class honours) in Mathematics.  He then took up the post of junior mathematics master at Cardiff High School in early 1908. While teaching at the school, Harry played cricket for the XI. In 1911, he was lodging at 83 Claude Road, Roath, where his fellow master, who was also fated to die in the war, Owen Jardine Hobbs, lodged too. Harry remained at the High School for six years as an assistant master until, in May 1914,  he became mathematics master at Giggleswick School in Yorkshire. There he was an officer in the Officer Training Corps. Despite being refused several times because of poor eyesight, Harry was eventually accepted for a commission in the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment) in the spring of 1916. Then on the 9th November of that year, he went out to the Western Front and joined the 1/6^th Battalion, serving continuously thereafter. He was mortally wounded during Operations on the Flanders Coast on 8^th August 1917. In preparation for a night raid, he had laid out a guiding tape in no man’s land and was returning to his trench when he was shot and severely wounded in his right arm. Two weeks later, his arm had to be amputated.. However, as often happened in such cases, infection set in and, in a very weakened state, he died of his wounds at No. 7 Stationary Hospital, Boulogne on 28^th August 1917. His parents had travelled to France to be with him. He was 31. Second Lieutenant Harry Frank Dyer is buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France (VII.B.31). His is also commemorated on the Bridgnorth war memorial; and on war memorials at Bridgnorth Grammar School, Corpus Christi College Cambridge, Giggleswick School and St. Alkelda’s Church Giggleswick; and on the Giggleswick War Memorial Bridge.

Times 10.9.17

Harry Frank Dyer is incorrectly listed on the Cardiff High School memorial as having served in the West Yorkshire Regiment. His time at the school is also shown as 1908 to 1913, though he left in 1914.

HENRY IVOR EDWARDS

56575 Private 16th (Service) Battalion (Cardiff City) Welsh Regiment, 115th Brigade, 38th (Welsh) Division.

Formerly 2175 Private 2/7th (Cyclist) Battalion The Welsh Regiment.

Henry Edwards (known as Ivor) was born 20^th November 1890 in Cardiff, the younger son of Alfred and Elizabeth Edwards of 34 Albany Road, Roath. His father died when he was young and his mother remarried Frederick Laughton in 1906 and the family lived at 19 Boverton Street, Roath. Ivor attended Cardiff High School from September 1904 to December 1906; and then became a clerk for Spillers and Bakers, flour millers, Cardiff. He enlisted in the 2/7^th (Cyclist) Battalion Welsh Regiment in Cardiff on 8^th November 1915. Ivor embarked from Southampton on 29^th July 1916 and joined No. 6 Infantry Base Depot at Rouen the next day. His training completed, Ivor was then posted to the Cardiff City Battalion in the Ypres Salient on 5^th September 1916. After serving only nine days at the front, on the 14^th, he was badly wounded when his battalion were in the line on the Yser canal bank, north of the town of Ypres. Private Henry Ivor Edwards died of wounds, aged 25, at No. 10 Casualty Clearing Station at Remi Siding near Poperinge on 15^th September 1916. He is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium (X.B.5). He is also commemorated on the Tredegarville Baptist Church, Roath war memorial.

South Wales Echo 19.9.16; South Wales Daily News 20.9.16.

See: http://www.lijssenthoek.be/en/address/4635/-henry-ivor-edwards.html

JOHN HUMPHREY ENGLAND Mentioned in Despatches.

Second Lieutenant 14^th (Service) Battalion (Swansea) Welsh Regiment, 114^th Brigade, 38^th (Welsh) Division.

Formerly 290152 Private 1/7^th (Cyclist) Battalion Welsh Regiment.

Jack England was born on 24^th June 1898 in Llanishen, the only son of Thomas and Florence England, 12 Church Terrace and later Edgecombe, 43 Station Road, Llanishen. His father was an accountant for the Rhymney Railway Company. Jack attended Norfolk House, a private school in Station Road, before joining Cardiff High School in 1909. He later moved to King’s College Taunton, where he was in the Officer Training Corps. After school, he was employed on the clerical staff of Spillers and Bakers, flour millers. Aged only 16, Jack enlisted on 21^st August 1914 as a private in the 1/7^th (Cyclist) Battalion Welsh Regiment and  he then served on the north-east coast of England for nearly a year. He was commissioned in the Welsh Regiment in August 1915. He went out to France on 25^th August 1916, joining the 14^th Battalion Welsh Regiment two days later. By the winter of 1916, the 38th (Welsh) Division was in Belgium, holding a line in the Ypres Salient. On the night of 17^th November, Jack took part in a successful raid on a German observation post which was heavily defended.  He survived but, returning from the raid, he was injured and hospitalised with ten others in a light railway accident. Second Lieutenant John England was killed in action, aged 19, by shell-fire when leading his men during the 38^th Division’s assault on Pilckem Ridge on the first day of the Third Battle of Ypres 31 July 1917.  “Acquitting himself with great bravery”, he died at the strong point of Iron Cross just before his battalion took their final objective. He is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial to the Missing, Belgium. He is also commemorated on the war memorial in St. Isan’s Church, Llanishen.

In 2006, John England was the subject of a Channel 5 TV programme about archaeology on the Western Front, when a watch was found which was first thought to belong to him, though this proved to be incorrect.

Western Mail 8.8.17 photo; South Wales Daily News 9.8.17.

JOHN LLEWELYN EVANS

Lieutenant 54^th (Kootenay) Battalion 11^th Brigade, 4^th Canadian Division.

Formerly 52^nd Prince Albert Volunteers; 65^th Battalion; and 188^th Battalion.

John Evans was born on 5^th April 1893 in Newport, Monmouthshire, the eldest son of John and Charlotte Evans, Highbury, Bishops Road, Whitchurch. His father was a commercial traveller who died in 1915.  John’s brother, Private Arthur Rhys Evans, 24^th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, also an Old Boy of the High School, was wounded in October 1916.  John’s family were living at 256 Newport Road, Roath when he enrolled at Cardiff High School in February 1905. He left in 1907 and, on being awarded an exhibition at Monmouth School, he transferred there from January 1908 to Easter 1909. By this time the family had moved to 59 Oakfield Street, Roath. While at Monmouth, he served in the South Wales Borderers Cadet Corps. He left to take up a post as a bank clerk for the London, City and Midland Bank in Cardiff Docks. In April 1913, John went out to Canada to work as a bank clerk in the Union Bank, Yorkton, Saskatchewan. He attested at Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in July 1915 and the following November he joined an Officer Training Corps course at Winnipeg University, Manitoba. John was commissioned early in 1916 and taken on the strength of the 188^th Battalion on 1 March 1916. He embarked from Halifax, Nova Scotia on 21^st August 1916 and arrived at Liverpool on the 30^th.  After training at the Canadians camp at Shorncliffe near Folkestone, Kent, John embarked for France on 21^st September 1916 and joined the 54^th (Kootenay) Battalion in the field three days later on the  24^th. During the Battle of the Ancre, which was the final phase of the Battles of the Somme, John was hospitalised on 18^th November 1916 after being wounded in the hand by shrapnel when taking part in his battalion’s successful assault on Desire Trench, near Grandecourt.  Lieutenant John Llewelyn Evans was killed in action leading D Company during a major trench raid on German defences on the slopes of Hill 145 on Vimy Ridge on 1^st March 1917.  He was 23. The raid was a disaster in which the Canadians suffered nearly seven hundred casualties.  John’s mother was later informed that “he fell while gallantly leading his men” and that his body had been found furthest into the German line of all the attackers. He is buried at Villers Station Cemetery, Villers-Au-Bois,France (VI.E.5). He is commemorated on Whitchurch war memorial; and on war memorials at Monmouth School; Yorkton; and the Royal Bank of Canada in Montreal.

South Wales Echo 2.6.16 photo and 14.12.16 photo; South Wales Daily News 2.6.16, 14.12.16; Western Mail 13,3,17, 14.3.17.

There is more information together with very good photographs of John Evans and his headstone here: http://54thbattalioncef.ca/?page_id=593

TUDOR EGLWYSBACH EVANS.

Second Lieutenant 8^th (Service) Battalion East Surrey Regiment, 55^th Brigade, 18^th (Eastern) Division.

Formerly 2637 Sergeant 21^st (Service) Battalion (4^th Public Schools) Royal Fusiliers.

Tudor Evans was born 12^th August 1891 in London, the younger son of Reverend John and Clara Evans of 52 The Parade, Tredegarville, Cardiff.  His father was a famous Wesleyan preacher, known as “Eglwysbach”. Tudor was educated at Cardiff High School from September 1905 until 1907; then Kingswood School Bath; and finally University College Cardiff from 1908, where he graduated BA with honours. He was a member of Roath Road Wesleyan Church. Tudor enlisted in the 21^st Bn. Royal Fusiliers (4^th Public Schools) in 1914. He was promoted to sergeant and then commissioned second lieutenant in the 3^rd (Reserve) Battalion East Surrey Regiment. in May 1915. He went out to the Western Front on 5^th January 1916. He was recommended for a decoration shortly before his death. Second Lieutenant Tudor Eglwysbach Evans was killed in action while leading his men of B Company in the attack on Montauban during the Battle of the Somme on 1^st July 1916. He was 24. Tudor was one of seven officers of his battalion who are buried together, including Captain W.P. Nevill who, in one of the most famous incidents in the war, gave his men footballs to kick towards the enemy lines during the attack. Tudor Evans was served in Nevill’s company so may well have participated in this. He is buried in Carnoy Military Cemetery, France (E.30). He is also commemorated on war memorials at Kingswood School Bath and Cardiff University.

Western Mail 12.7.16 and 13.7.16 photo; South Wales Daily News 12.7.16.

The parish magazine Roath Road Roamer has a good photograph of Tudor Evans:  Edition number 22 for August 1916 page 6.It is held at Cardiff Library.

JOHN FIRTH GOUNDREY

Second Lieutenant 1/9^th (County of London) Battalion London Regiment (Queen Victoria’s Rifles) attached 1/19^th (County of London) Battalion London Regiment (St. Pancras), 141^st Brigade, 47^th (2^nd London) Division.

Formerly 3509 Private 9^th Battalion London Regiment (Queen Victoria’s Rifles).

John Goundrey was born 27^th March 1893 in Cardiff, younger son of Edward and Jane Goundrey, 90 Connaught Road, Roath. His father was a master mariner. John entered Cardiff High School in September 1905, when his family were living at 27 Ryder Street, Pontcanna. At the outbreak of war, he was employed as a pharmaceutical chemist and was studying at the School of Pharmacy, Bloomsbury Square, London. He enlisted as a private in the Queen Victoria’s Rifles in November 1914 and went out to the Western Front 6 June 1915. John was wounded in the attack on the Gommecourt Salient during the Battle of the Somme on 1^st July 1916. Commissioned to the 9^th Bn. London Regiment 28 April 1917 and returned to the Western Front for about six weeks.  He was very badly wounded in the neck when leading his company in an attack near Polygon Wood during the Battle of Langemarck. A strong German counter-attack made it impossible to recover the wounded. Second Lieutenant John Firth Goundrey was killed in action 16 August 1917. He was 24. He is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial to the Missing, Belgium. He is also commemorated on the war memorial in Trinity Methodist Church, Four Elms Road, Roath.

South Wales Daily News 11.7.16, 22.8.17 photo and 7.9.17; Western Mail 12.6.17 photo, 22.8.17 photo and 17.9.17; South Wales Echo 21.8.17.

HENRY CHARLES EDGAR GRIBBLE

26043 Private 1^st Battalion Grenadier Guards, 3^rd Guards Brigade, Guards Division.

“Harry” Gribble was born on 2^nd May 1888 in Plymouth, the only son of William and Matilda Gribble, of 76 Claude Road, Roath. His father was a master mariner. Harry attended Cardiff High School from May1902 to December 1903. He then served an apprenticeship with Spiridon and Sons, jewellers and opticians, 29 Duke Street, Cardiff but later then took up insurance work. He was employed as an assistant superintendent by the Wesleyan and General Assurance Society in Newport. He was married to Ella Gribble and they lived with their two children at 34 Sutton Road, Newport. Harry enlisted in Newport and served on the Western Front for ten months. He was killed in action in the attack by the Guards Division on the Boesinghe sector in the Battle of Pilckem Ridge on 31^st July 1917. He was 29. He is buried in New Irish Farm Cemetery, near Ypres, Belgium (XXXI.A.1).

South Wales Echo 15.8.17; South Wales Daily News 16.8.17 photo; Western Mail 17.8.17.

JOHN HERMAN GYLES

PS/50337 Private 11^th (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers, 54^th Brigade, 18^th (Eastern) Division.

Formerly 31^st (Reserve) Bn. Royal Fusiliers.

John was born on 19^th November 1888 in Cardiff, the second son of George and Matilda Gyles of 44 Hamilton Street, Pontcanna. His father was a master mariner. John attended Cardiff High School from 16^th January 1902 until April 1903. He was a member of Conway Road Methodist Church, Canton. Before joining up, he had been working as a bank clerk for eleven years in the London City and Midland Bank, Threadneedle Street, London and he lived at Muswell Hill. John enlisted at the Law Courts, London on 27^th May 1916 and went to the Western Front on 27^th September 1916.  He was killed in action on the Somme in the Battle of Boom Ravine near Miraumont on 17^th February 1917. He was 28 and unmarried. Private John Herman Giles is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing, France. He is also commemorated on the Conway Road Methodist Church war memorial; and on the London Joint City and Midland Bank war memorial at HSBC, 8 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London. (This memorial had been previously located at the Midland Bank Threadneedle Street, where John Gyles had worked).

South Wales Daily News 14.3.17: Western Mail 14.3.17 photo and 15.3.17.

John Gyles is not commemorated on the Cardiff High School war memorial.

LEONARD HOLMES HAIME

7553 Private 2/1^st Battalion Honourable Artillery Company (Infantry), 22^nd Brigade, 7^th Division.

 Leonard Haime was born on 13^th June 1897 in Cardiff, the son of Arthur and Mary Elizabeth (Minnie) Haime, 41 Richmond Road, Roath. His father was a coal merchant. Leonard was unmarried. He attended Cardiff High School from September 1908. According to Aberystwyth records he was also “educated at Somerset” before going to university. He attended University College of Wales Aberystwyth in 1913, where he took part in amateur dramatics. When he enlisted he gave his employment as a coal merchant and he was probably working in in his father’s business at 51 Coal Exchange Buildings, Cardiff Docks. He was a member of Roath Road Wesleyan Church. He attested at 18 in Cardiff on 15^th January 1916 and was subsequently mobilized and admitted to the Honourable Artillery Company at Armoury House, Finsbury on 4^th May 1916. He went overseas with his battalion, embarking from Southampton on 1^st October 1916. He subsequently spent some time in hospital and returned to the front in March 1917. Initially reported missing, Private Leonard Holmes was killed in action during the Battle of Bullecourt on 3^rd May 1917.  He was only 19 years of age. He is commemorated on the Arras Memorial to the Missing, France. He is also commemorated on the Aberystwyth University war memorial.

Aberystwyth University has a group photo of the cast of the Christmas 1913 production of The Rivals in which LH Haime appears. https://archives.aber.ac.uk/index.php/christmas-dramatics-production-of-rivals;isad

 

WILLIAM NORMAN HALE

2109 and 366202 Private 2^nd (Welsh) Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, 53^rd (Welsh) Division.

William Norman Hale was born 4^th June 1892 in Cardiff, the eldest son of William John and Elsie Hale. His father was a clerk. He attended Cardiff High School from September 1904 until the spring of 1905, when his family were living at Minavon, Whitchurch. By 1911, his widowed mother and family had moved to Oakfield, Van Road, Caerphilly. William was then employed as a fitter’s apprentice at the Rhymney Railway locomotive works in Caerphilly. His mother later became a schoolmistress and lived at the school house, Sully.  William enlisted at the outbreak of war and was posted to the Gallipoli on 18^th October 1915.  The 53^rd (Welsh) Division served in Gallipoli, Egypt and Palestine during the war. After four years and three months Army service, Private William Hale died of pneumonia, aged 26, on 28^th November 1918.  He is buried in Alexandria (Hadra) War Cemetery, Egypt (C.282). William is commemorated on the Caerphilly war memorial (N Hale) and the war memorial of Bethel Church, Court Road, Barry (now located at Trinity Church, Barry).

South Wales Echo 5.12.18; South Wales Daily News 6.12.18.

JAMES HENRY HARDESS

B/19520 Lance Corporal 7^th (Extra Reserve) Battalion Royal Fusiliers, 190^th Brigade, 63^rd (Royal Naval) Division.

James Hardess was born on 23^rd June 1896 in Cardiff, the only son of Henry and Eleanor Hardess of 69 Bangor Street Roath. By 1901, the family were living at 120 Richmond Road, Roath. His father was an accountancy clerk for a coal exporting firm. James studied at Cardiff High School from September 1906 until the summer of 1912. His uncle worked for the National Provincial Bank, so it may have been through this connection that he obtained a post at the same bank. In September 1912, when he was 16, he began an apprenticeship at the Bridgend branch of the National Provincial Bank. He enlisted in Bridgend and served on the Western Front from July 1916. James Hardess was killed in action, aged 20, by shell-fire during the Battle of the Ancre on 13^th November 1916. He is buried in Ancre British Cemetery, Somme, France and is commemorated on the Bridgend war memorial.

Western Mail 22.12.16 and 3.1.17; South Wales Daily News 3.1.17.

HOWARD LOCK HARRIES

Second Lieutenant 18^th (Reserve) Battalion (2^nd London Welsh) attached 10^th (Service) Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 76^th Brigade, 3^rd Division.

Formerly Trooper Glamorgan Yeomanry.

Howard Harries was born on 19^th May 1888 in Cardiff, the second son of David and Frances Harries, 181 Newport Road, Roath. His father was a chemist at 102 Queen Street, Cardiff. His brother Frank Harries also served in the war. Howard attended Cardiff High School as part of the first ever intake in September 1898 with the roll number of 13. He left in 1901 to enter Christ College Brecon and remained there until 1905, afterwards studying at Neuchatel, Switzerland. He was a keen churchman and was a member of the Church of England Men’s Society. He began a career in commerce in Cardiff Docks with a coal-exporting firm and later worked in Barcelona. An accomplished linguist, he returned to Cardiff for three years as the French and Spanish correspondent for John Cory and Sons, Mount Stuart Square. He then decided to take a trip around the world before starting his own business and was on a voyage from New Zealand to Vancouver when war broke out. Arriving in Canada, he immediately returned home and enlisted as a trooper in the Glamorgan Yeomanry.  On 10^th September 1915, Howard was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He went on active service on 7^th October 1916. Five weeks later, Second Lieutenant Howard Lock Harries was killed in action by shell-fire in the 10^th RWF’s attack on Serre in the Battle of the Ancre 13 November 1916, during the final phase of the Battles of the Somme. He was 28. He is buried at Euston Road Cemetery, Colincamps, France (I.G.68). He is commemorated on the Christ College Brecon war memorial.

South Wales Echo 21.11.16 photo; South Wales Daily News 21.11.16 photo and 13.11.17; Western Mail 21.11.16 photo and 11.11.31; The Times 7.12.16.

In some sources, his second name is spelled “Locke”.

ALFRED GEORGE HARRIS

 Second Lieutenant 7^th (Cyclist) Battalion Welsh Regiment attached 2/6^th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment, 185^th Brigade, 62^nd (2^nd West Riding) Division.

Formerly 1991 Private 7^th (Cyclist) Battalion The Welsh Regiment.

“Bobs” Harris was born on 3^rd February 1895 in Cardiff, the youngest son of Alfred George and Elizabeth Harris of  Ellesmere, 84 Ninian Road, Roath Park. In 1911, the family were living at 115 Albany Road. His father was an accountant. Alfred attended Cardiff High School from January 1907. He was later employed by the Powell Dyffryn Steam Coal Company. He enlisted as a private in the 7^th (Cyclist) Battalion Welsh Regiment in May 1915 and was later commissioned.  He married Phyllis Lowrie, of 95 Claude Road, Roath, shortly before he went out to the Western Front on 7^th January 1917. Second Lieutenant Alfred George Harris was killed in action during the first Battle of Bullecourt 11^th April 1917. He was 22. He is commemorated on the Arras Memorial to the Missing, France. He is also commemorated on the Mackintosh Institute war memorial.

South Wales Daily News 17.4.17 photo; Western Mail 17.4.17 and 18.4.17.

LYN ARTHUR PHILIP HARRIS

Captain 16th (Service) Battalion (Cardiff City) Welsh Regiment, 115th Brigade, 38th (Welsh) Division. 

Formerly 2795 Private 21st (Service) Battalion (4th Public Schools) The Royal Fusiliers.

 Lyn Harris was born on 9 October 1892 in Llanishen, the only son of John and Annie Harris of Redcote, Station Road, Llanishen. His father was clerk to the Cardiff Board of Guardians. Lyn was at Cardiff High School for three years from January 1903 to 1906 when he moved to Denstone College, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire until 1910. He served in the Officer Training Corps there. On leaving school he became an apprentice engineer and a pupil of the Locomotive Superintendent of Rhymney Railwway Works in Caerphilly. After completing his pupilage in 1913 he studied at University College Cardiff for the final examination of the BSc in Engineering. Enlisting as a private in the 21^st Battalion The Royal Fusiliers (4^th Public Schools) at the beginning of the war, he later became one of the first officers gazetted into the Cardiff City Battalion on 10 December 1914. He was promoted  lieutenant on 1 June 1915, captain on 4 December 1915 and appointed adjutant of the battalion in France on 30 March 1916. He married Mary Gardiner of Llanishen in Winchester in October 1915 shortly before going on active service. He served in France with the Cardiff City Battalion from 5 December 1915. Lyn Arthur Philip Harris was killed in action during the Battle of Mametz Wood on 11 July 1916, aged 23. He is buried in Dantzig Alley British Cemetery, near Mametz, Somme, France (V.Q.2). He is also commemorated on war memorials at Dentstone College, Cardiff University, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in London and at St. Isan’s Church Llanishen, where he is also commemorated on a memorial window.

South Wales Daily News 20.7.16; Western Mail 20.7.16 photo.

OWEN JARDINE HOBBS

Sub-Lieutenant Anson Battalion, 188^th Brigade, 63^rd (Royal Naval) Division. Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

Formerly Private Public Schools Battalion Royal Fusiliers and  Z/1494 Ordinary Seaman Royal Naval Division.

Owen Hobbs was born on 6^th April 1889 in Carlisle, the second son of Reverend Owen and Eliza Hobbs of 36 Darlston Road, Carlisle and later of Doncaster. His father was a Congregational minister. Owen was educated at Batley Grammar School from 1896 when his family were living at the Manse, Hanover Road, Batley. He went up to Merton College Oxford in 1907 and won a half Blue representing Oxford against Cambridge at water-polo. He graduated BA in chemistry in 1910 and took his MA in 1914. He also graduated BSc at London University. Owen was an assistant master at Cardiff High School from 1911 to 1912 when he lodged with Harry Dyer (qv) at 83 Claude Road, Roath. He was one of three members of staff in 1911 who later died in the war. He then took up a post as senior science master at Chelmsford Grammar School; and in January 1914 was appointed science master at King Edward VI School Southampton, where he was teaching when he enlisted. Owen was a member of the Avenue Congregational Church in Southampton. He joined a Public Schools Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers and then transferred as an Ordinary Seaman in the Royal Naval Division. Owen was then gazetted sub-lieutenant on 20^th July 1915 in the Hood Battalion Royal Naval Division. Shortly afterwards in the August, Owen married Maud (nee Gantry) of Dulwich. He was posted to the Anson Battalion Royal Naval Division on 22^nd November 1915. He went out to Gallipoli with the RND in October 1915 and was one of the last to leave Cape Helles in the evacuation on 8/9^th January 1916. He then disembarked with his battalion at Marseilles on 19^th May 1916 and subsequently served on the Western Front.  First reported missing, Sub-Lieutenant Owen Jardine Hobbs was killed in action in the attack on Beaucourt during the Battle of the Ancre on 13^th November 1916. He was 27 and is buried in Ancre British Cemetery (IV.C.56), Beaumont Hamel, Somme, France. He is commemorated on the Southampton Cenotaph, as well as on war memorials at Batley Grammar School; Merton College Oxford; Chelmsford Grammar School; and King Edward VI School Southampton.

Times 20.12.16. See photo: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205301319

NORMAN HOLDEN

 Second Lieutenant 5^th (Service) Battalion (Pioneers) South Wales Borderers, 19^th (Western) Division.

Norman Holden was born on 3^rd September 1884 in Cardiff, the youngest son of James and Hannah Holden of Ash Villa, Caerau, Ely. His father was a civil engineer and was the Engineer and Surveyor to Llandaff and Dinas Powis Rural District Council. Norman married Gladys (nee Chick) of 71 Cowbridge Road, Canton, in July 1917.  He attended Cardiff High School from January 1899 until July 1900 when he left to start work. He was employed as an assistant to Colonel Forrest at the Plymouth Estate offices at St. Fagans. From 1908 to 1910, Norman was secretary of Taff Rowing Club. He enlisted in early 1916, was commissioned in early 1918 and served on the Western Front from 22^nd April 1918. In the August he was appointed a military demonstrator and lecturer. He was severely wounded about the face, arms and legs when a shell burst near him on 20^th October 1918 during the Battle of the Selle. Second Lieutenant Norman Holden died of wounds at a Casualty Clearing Station on 29^th October 1918. He was 34.  He is buried at Delsaux Farm Cemetery (I.A.9), Beugny, near Bapaume, France. He is commemorated on the Taff Rowing Club war memorial in Llandaff Rowing Club.

Western Mail 1.11.18 photo.

HARRY ALBERT MOSTYN HOOPS

Second Lieutenant 4^th (Extra Reserve) Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers attached 7^th (Service) Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, 48^th Brigade, 16^th (Irish) Division.

Formerly 6013 Private Inns of Court Officer Training Corps.

Harry Hoops was born on 10^th February 1897 in Eccles, near Manchester, the third and youngest son of Dr. Harry and Elizabeth Frances Hoops of 119 Albany Road, Roath. He was unmarried. His father was a medical doctor who during the war was an examining officer for army recruits in Cardiff. His brothers Lance Corporal Douglas Hoops (Military Medal, Gordon Highlanders) and Lieutenant Reginald Hoops (Shropshire Yeomanry attached Royal Welsh Fusiliers) also served in the war. Harry entered Cardiff High School in September 1908, when his family were living at 24 Pearl Crescent, Roath. He was serving his accountancy articles with Richard Leyshon, chartered accountant, Cardiff Docks, when he joined the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps on 2^nd September 1915. He was then posted to No. 7 Officer Cadet Battalion at Moore Park, County Cork, Ireland on 3^rd July 1916 and was afterwards commissioned to the Royal Irish Fusiliers on 3^rd November 1916. He served on the Western Front from 9^th January 1917, attached to the 7^th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles. Second Lieutenant Harry Hoops was killed in action leading his men in an unsuccessful attack during the Battle of Langemarck on 16^th August 1917. He was initially reported missing. Forced to retire, his men could not recover his body. He was 20 years of age. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing, Belgium.

South Wales Echo 25.8.17; South Wales Daily News 27.8.17 photo and  6.2.18 photo; Western Mail 27.8.17 and  6.4.18.  For his photo see: iwm:http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205301508

 

ROBERT THOMAS HOPKIN

Second Lieutenant 16^th (Service) Battalion (St. Pancras) Rifle Brigade, 117^th Brigade, 39^th Division.

Formerly Sergeant Middlesex Regiment.

Robert Hopkin was born on 17^th December 1893 in St. Fagans, the fourth and youngest son of John and Gwenllian Hopkin of Tregurnog Farm, near St. Fagans, where his father was a farmer. Robert was admitted to Cardiff High School in 1907. After leaving school, he was employed by S. Hern and Pertwee, who were house agents, auctioneers, surveyors and valuers at 93 St. Mary Street and Westgate Street, Cardiff. Robert enlisted as a private in the Middlesex Regiment in July 1915 and was promoted to sergeant, serving as a bombing instructor at Aldershot for a period. He entered an Officer Cadet Battalion in Rhyl in November 1916 and was commissioned to the Rifle Brigade in April 1917. He went out to the Western Front on 1^st June1917. Second Lieutenant Robert Thomas Hopkin was killed in action leading his platoon in a successful attack during the Battle of the Menin Road on 20^th September 1917. He was 23. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing, Belgium. He is also commemorated on the St. Fagans war memorial and at St. Bride’s Church, St. Bride’s-Super-Ely.

South Wales Echo 28.9.17 photo; South Wales Daily News 28.9.17, Western Mail 28.9.17 photo and  29.9.17 .

THOMAS PRICE HURLEY

40988 Gunner B Battery, 124^th Brigade, 37^th Division, Royal Field Artillery.

Formerly 41^st Brigade, 2^nd Division, Royal Field Artillery.

Thomas Hurley was born on 4^th May 1889 in Roath, the elder son of Nathaniel and Alice Hurley of the Bedford Hotel, City Road, Roath and later 40 Moira Street, Adamsdown. His father was a public house licensee. His younger brother Driver Fred Hurley also served in the war. Thomas entered Cardiff High School on 7^th November 1902, when his family was living at the Golden Cross Hotel, 283 Bute Street, Cardiff. He became a Regular soldier in 1906 when he joined the Royal Field Artillery. At the outbreak of war he was called up as a Reservist. He went out to France on 16^th August 1914 and, as he was a member of the original British Expeditionary Force, he was, therefore, an “Old Contemptible”.  He took part in the Retreat from Mons, serving initially in the 2^nd Division and was also attached to the Guards Division at one point. He subsequently served continually throughout the war without injury. He was no doubt involved when the 37^th Division captured the town of Caudry near Cambrai on 10^th October 1918. However, after surviving over four years of warfare, Gunner Thomas Hurley died of bronco-pneumonia five weeks after the Armistice at No. 19 Casualty Clearing Station, Caudry on 21^st December 1918. He was 29. He is buried at Caudry British Cemetery, France (II.G.14).

Western Mail 19.5.15 photo, 30.12.18 and 3.1.19 photo; South Wales Daily News 27.12.15 and 30.12.18.

Further details of his war service in SWDN 27.12.17 p7.

MORGAN JONES JENKINS

475898 Lance Corporal Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, 7^th Brigade, 3^rd Canadian Division.

 Morgan Jenkins was born on 4^th May 1887 in Llantwit Farde, the son of Reverend John and Elizabeth Jenkins of the Vicarage, St. Illtyd’s Church, Llantwit Fardre. His father was the vicar there.  Morgan was one of five brothers who served in the war and two of his siblings, Sergeant David J. C. Jenkins (5th Bn. Canadian Infantry) and Second Lieutenant Richard Jenkins (7^th Bn. Manchester Regt.) were also killed in action, on 10^th April 1916 and 11^th November 1916 respectively. Morgan was educated at Christ’s Hospital (Bluecoat School) and then from 1903 to July 1905 at Cardiff High School where he was captain of football and cricket. He then studied at University College Cardiff from 1905. After going out to Canada, he became a student at Manitoba Agriculture College, Winnipeg. He was still a student when he attested at Saskatoon on 8^th July 1915 and served in the 3^rd McGill University Company. He embarked at Montreal on 4^th September 1915 and eventually joined the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in the field on 21^st January 1916. He was wounded on 4^th May 1916. Lance Corporal Morgan Jones Jenkins was killed in action at Jigsaw Wood during the Battle of the Scarpe on 28^th August 1918. He was 31. He is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial to the Missing, France. He is also commemorated on war memorials at St.Illtyd’s Church Llantwit Fardre, Cardiff University and University of Manitoba. He and his two brothers are also commemorated on a stained glass window in St. Illtyd’s Chutch.

His year of birth is given as 1888 on his army attestation form but his birth is recorded in 1887 in the birth registration registers and this is confirmed in other sources.

 

Photo: http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/1569737

 Stained glass window: http://stainedglass.llgc.org.uk/object/2220

 Recent research strongly suggests he may be buried as an unknown Lance Corporal of the PPCLI at plot 5.A.12 in Vis-en-Artois British Cemetery, Haucourt, Pas de Calais, France. See:

 https://archive.org/details/LanceCorporalJenkinsVisEnArtoisCemeteryPlot5RowAGrave12

 There was a lot more information about this on the following two links but these now seem to be unavailable        

 http://cefresearch.ca/wiki/index.php/Lance_Corporal_Morgan_Jones_Jenkins,_Vis-en-Artois_British_Cemetery_Plot_5_Row_A_Grave_12#Details_of_Findings

 http://cefresearch.ca/lance-corporal-morgan-jones-jenkins-vis-en-artois-british-cemetery-plot-5-row-a-grave-12/

 

DAN LLEWELLYN JONES

Second Lieutenant 9^th (Service) Battalion Welsh Regiment, 58^th Brigade, 19^th (Western) Division.

Dan Jones was born on 26^th November 1891 in Cardiff, the youngest son of John Price and Mary Jones, of Ashdene, Bridgeman Road, Penarth, which his father designed and built. John Price Jones was a well-known local architect, who died in 1893 when Dan was only 2 years old. The family later moved to 66 Cathedral Road, Pontcanna. Dan was unmarried. He was the brother of Major Percy L. Jones MC and Bar (19^th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery) and Staff Captain George Howard Jones MC (2^nd Battalion Welsh Regiment). Another brother Ivor P Jones was a Cardiff architect and played rugby for Cardiff. Dan attended Cardiff High School from 1903 and was serving his accountancy articles with Emerson Davies Brothers in Cardiff when war broke out. He was commissioned early in 1915 into the 12^th (Reserve) Battalion Welsh Regiment and trained at Barry and Kinmel Park, near Abergele. He went out to the Western Front on 6^th October 1915, serving in the 9^th Battalion Welsh Regiment who spent the winter of 1915-16 in trenches and reserve in the Neuve Chapelle and Laventie areas. Second Lieutenant Dan Llewellyn Jones was wounded on 13^th March 1916 and he died of wounds on 14^th March 1916. He was 24. He is buried in Merville Communal Cemetery (VII.A.9), France. On the day before his mother had received the news of Dan’s death, she had been informed that his older brother George had been awarded the Military Cross.

South Wales Daily News 5.2.16, 17.3.16 photo, 13.6.17 and 11.2.18; Western Mail 17.3.16, 18.3.16 photo and 20.3.16.

JAMES HAROLD JONES

Air Mechanic, Depot, Royal Flying Corps (Service Number: 65778)

James Harold Jones was born on 6 Aug 1891 in Cardiff to James William Jones, a brewer, originally from Cardiff and Hannah Jones née Rees, also originally from Cardiff.  James’s mother died when he was young and in 1901 he was living at 134 Newport Road with his grandmother, father and aunt but later that year his father also died.  James attended Cardiff High School for Boys and in 1911 was living with his aunt and uncle at 29 Mafeking Road and working as an apprentice at a Motor Works. On 17 Apr 1914 he married Alice Elizabeth Williams at St Margaret’s church giving his occupation at the time as an electrician. They went on to live at 79 Canada Road, Gabalfa.  James served as an Air Mechanic with the Royal Flying Corps. He died on 16 May 1917 aged 25 at Aldershot Military Isolation Hospital.  His body was returned to Cardiff and buried at Cathays Cemetery on 22 May 1917 (plot J. CE. 1206). He is remembered on the St Margaret’s War Memorial tower and the St Edward’s War Memorial plaque.  Commonwealth War Graves Commission record.

John Harold Jones is not commemorated on the Cardiff High School war memorial.

JOHN IVOR JONES

 14142 Private 11^th (Service) Battalion (Cardiff Pals Commercial) Welsh Regiment, 67^th Brigade, 22^nd Division. 

John “Ivor” Jones was born on 16^th December 1885 in Cardiff, the son of David and Annie Jones of St. Carlos, 21 Richmond Road, Roath. He had three brothers, one of whom, Captain Stanley Ewart Jones, East Yorkshire Regiment, was made prisoner of war in 1917. Ivor first attended Monkton House School and then entered Cardiff High School in the first ever intake on 20^th September 1898 with the roll number 24. He remained there until 1900 when he transferred again, this time to Llandovery College until 1901. Ivor enlisted in the Cardiff Pals in Cardiff early in the war. He then went into training at Hastings, Seaford and Aldershot. He embarked at Southampton with his battalion on 4^th September 1915 and landed at Le Havre the next day. The Cardiff Pals served briefly on the Somme but then left France, sailing from Marseilles for Salonika on 30^th October 1915, arriving there on 8^th November 1915.They went into the line south west of Lake Doiran and remained in this area which was overlooked by strongly fortified hills. Following an attack by the 22^nd Division on two hills, Piton Des Mitrailleuses and Dorsale, overlooking Machukovo, Private John Ivor Jones was killed in action on 14^th September 1916 when acting as a stretcher-bearer bringing in the wounded from the previous day’s fighting. He was 30 years of age. He is buried in Karasouli Military Cemetery (D.766), Salonika, Greece.

Western Mail 30.9.16, 2.10.16 photo and 6.3.17; South Wales Echo 18.9.64[sic].

WILFRED JOHN WESLEY KYTE

30256 Sergeant 4^th Battalion Machine Gun Corps, 4^th Division.

Formerly 2920 Middlesex Regiment.

Wilfred was born on 14 July 1891 in Cardiff, the youngest son of George and Sarah Kyte, 1 West Grove, Tredegarville, Cardiff. He attended Cardiff High School from September 1904, when his family were living at 99 Cathedral Road, Pontcanna. He was employed for seven years on the staff of Spillers and Bakers, flour millers, Cardiff. Wilfred enlisted in Cardiff on 8 October 1915. After serving in the Middlesex Regiment, he transferred to the Machine Gun Corps and was promoted to sergeant.  The 4^th Division was engaged in the defence of Hinges Ridge in the Battle of Hazebrouck 12-15 April 1918 and in the Battle of Bethune 18 April 1918. [Battle of the Lys].He died of wounds on 18 April 1918, aged 26. Wilfred Kyte is buried in St. Venant-Robecq Road British Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France (III.D.6).

South Wales Echo 6.5.18, 23.5.18 photo; Western Mail 6.5.18; South Wales Daily News 23.5.18 photo.

Photo on Peoples’s Collection Wales: https://www.peoplescollection.wales/items/400553

JOHN CLIFFORD LEWIS

Second Lieutenant 24^th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery (Territorial Force).

Formerly Driver Royal Field Artillery.

“Jack” Lewis was born on 22^nd December 1897 in Cardiff, the youngest son of Ebenezer and Letitia Lewis of Leasowe, Church Road, Whitchurch. His father was a proprietor of the Troedyrhiw Coal Company. His brothers, Major R.C. Lewis (Canadian Cavalry) and Captain Bert. C. Lewis (Canadian Army Service Corps), also served in the war. Jack attended Cardiff High School from 1910, when his family were then living at Carn Ingli, Radyr. By 1911, they had moved to 1 Connaught Road, Roath. His widowed mother later lived at 10 Lon-y-Dail, Rhiwbina. Jack enlisted at 17 years in the Royal Field Artillery in February 1915 and served with the rank of driver. He went out to the Western Front on 25^th November 1915 when he was still only 17.  He was then commissioned into the Royal Garrison Artillery in 1916. Seriously wounded “whilst gallantly attempting to get one of the guns to a place of safety”, Second Lieutenant John Clifford Lewis died of his wounds on 27^th March 1918. He was 20 years of age.  A fellow officer wrote, “We all liked him, he used to keep us amused and cheered by his jests and verbal sparring.” He is buried in Namps-Au-Val British Cemetery (I.C.26), near Amiens, France and is commemorated on the Whitchurch war memorial as well as on the war memorial in St. Mary’s Church, Whitchurch.

South Wales Daily News 18.8.16, 11.4.18 photo and 13.4.18; Western Mail 11.4.18 and 13.4.18; Weekly Mail  13.4.18 photo.

TREVOR EDWARD LEWIS

Captain 5^th (Service) Battalion (Pioneers) South Wales Borderers, 19^th (Western) Division.

Trevor Lewis was born on 13^th October 1887 at his family home Ty Nant Radyr. He was the fourth and youngest son of Henry and Katherine Lewis, later of 13 Camden Crescent, Bath. His father was a Justice of the Peace, colliery proprietor and chairman of the South Wales Coalowners Association. Trevor was unmarried. His brothers, Major H.L. Lewis DSO (Royal Engineers) and Lieutenant Clifford Lewis (Royal Garrison Artillery), also served in the war. Trevor attended Cardiff High School from 20^th September 1899 until 1902, when he transferred to Clifton College, where he played cricket. In 1906, he went up to Gonville and Caius College Cambridge to read Natural Sciences. He graduated in 1909. When war broke out, he was engaged in copper mining in Spain. On 2^nd September 1914, he became the first subaltern to be gazetted to the 5^th Battalion South Wales Borderers, a Pioneers battalion which formed in Brecon. Trevor was promoted to lieutenant on 16^th November 1914 and captain on 30^th June 1915. He went on active service on 17^th July 1915. Having been interested in the chemistry of explosives since his student days, he was appointed Divisional Bombing Instructor. Whilst supervising training at Le Sart in the Neuve Chapelle-Festubert sector on 28^th August 1915, he was accidentally killed while trying to save life. One of his men had dropped a live hand-grenade. Trevor rushed forward to try to safely dispose of  it, by throwing it out of the trench ,but the grenade exploded before he could do so. He was 27 years of age. Captain Trevor Edward Lewis is buried in Merville Communal Cemetery (V.A.23), France. He is also commemorated on the Radyr war memorial; the Gonville and Caius College war memorial; and on a family monumental inscription in Radyr Church.

 South Wales Daily News 31.8.15 photo and 24.8.16; Western Mail 31.8.15 and 6.9.15.

WALTER HENRY LEWIS Mentioned in Despatches.

Lieutenant D Battery 107^th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, 24^th Division.

Formerly Private 14^th (Service) Battalion (Swansea) Welsh Regiment.

Walter Lewis was born on 20^th February 1894 in Swansea, the son of John Dyer Lewis and Harriet Louisa Lewis, later of 21 Stanwell Road, Penarth. His father was chief Inspector of Mines for South Wales. His brother Lieutenant Vivian M. Lewis also served in the war. Walter attended Cardiff High School from September 1905 to 1906, when his family were living at 183 Richmond Road, Roath. He later transferred to Bromsgrove School, Worcestershire, where he played for the cricket XI. Walter entered Emmanuel College Cambridge in 1913. He was still an undergraduate when he enlisted as a private in the Swansea Battalion Welsh Regiment. After taking a course at the Royal Military Academy Woolwich, he was then commissioned to the Royal Field Artillery. Walter went out to the Western Front on 30^th August 1915. He was wounded on 13^th May 1917. Lieutenant Walter Henry Lewis died of gas poisoning at the Duchess of Westminster’s No.1 Red Cross Hospital, Le Touquet on 4^th August 1917. He was 23 years old. He is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery (XVII.C.25), France. He is commemorated on the Penarth war memorial; and on war memorials in Bromsgrove School, Emmanuel College Cambridge and St Augustine’s Church, Penarth.

South Wales Daily News 23.5.17,   24.5.17, 9.9.17 and 10.8.17; Western Mail  9.08.17 and 10.8.17.

GORDON McKENZIE LOWRIE

Third Mate SS Excellence Pleske. Mercantile Marine.

 Gordon Lowrie was born on 1^st July 1896 in Cardiff, the second son of George and Barbara Lowrie, 93 Claude Road, Roath. His father was a commercial traveller. He attended Marlborough Road Council School and then Cardiff High School from 20^th September 1910 to 26^th July 1912, when his family home was 120 Claude Road. After school, he was first employed as a clerk. Third Mate Gordon McKenzie Lowrie was one of fifteen crew members (six from Cardiff) who drowned when the defensively-armed merchant steamer, SS Excellence Pleske, was sunk by submarine in the Strait of Dover, two and a half miles south-south-east from Dungeness, Kent on 31^st March 1918. He was 21. He is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London (where his surname is recorded as “Lourie”).

South Wales Echo 5.4.18; South Wales Daily News 5.4.18.

HARRY FOSTER MARTIN

Second Lieutenant 1^st Battalion South Wales Borderers, 3^rd Brigade, 1^st Division.

Harry Martin was born  in January 1899 in Cardiff, the eldest son of Captain George and Edith Martin, of Sherwood, 42 Newport Road, Roath and Lloydminster, Alberta, Canada. His father was an iron works manager. In 1901, Harry was living in Merthyr and, by 1911, in Blaenavon. He was later educated at Cardiff High School. He attended the Royal Military College Sandhurst and then trained at Liverpool. Harry was gazetted to the South Wales Borderers on the 24^th April 1918 and served on the Western Front for about three months. Second Lieutenant Harry Martin was killed in action east of Portruet, north-west of St. Quentin, leading his men during an attack on the Hindenburg Line on the 29^th September 1918. He was only 19 years of age.  He is buried in Savy British Cemetery (I.J.10), near St. Quentin, France. He is commemorated on the St. James the Great Church, Newport Road, war memorial (now removed to St. John’s Church, Trinity Street).

Western Mail 7.10.18; South Wales Daily News 8.10.18.

FRANCIS ALEXANDER MATTHYSSENS

Captain 1/4^th Battalion Welsh Regiment, 159^th Brigade, 53^rd (Welsh) Division.

 Francis Matthyssens was born on 18^th May 1887 in Cardiff, the only son of John and Sarah Matthyssens, of Witla Court, St.Mellons.  His father was a Belgian by birth who was employed in the export of coal at Cardiff docks. Francis entered Cardiff High School with the roll number 53 in its first ever intake on 20^th September 1898, when his family were then living at Redbrook House, St. Martin’s Road, Caerphilly. He left the High School in December 1904. Like his father, he was engaged in business at Cardiff docks. He was gazetted second lieutenant to the 4^th Battalion Welsh Regiment on 2^nd September 1914. He served with the 1/4^th Battalion at Gallipoli from 1^st September 1915 until the evacuation on 11^th December 1915. He then proceeded to Alexandria, where he was promoted again.  Captain Francis Matthyssens died of typhus at the General Hospital, Alexandria on 23^rd June 1916. He was 29. He is buried in Alexandria (Hadra) War Memorial Cemetery (B.1), Egypt. He is also commemorated on the war memorials in Rumney and St. Mellons.

Western Mail 18.2.16 photo and 3.7.16  photo; South Wales Echo 2.2.17.

CHARLES McEACHRAN

Lieutenant 2/5^th (Prince of Wales’s) Battalion, attached 1/4^th Battalion Devonshire Regiment, 37^th Indian Brigade, 14^th Indian Division.

 Charles was born on 9^th September 1888, in Cardiff, the only son of John and Jean McEachran, of 193 Newport Road, Roath and Belmont, Campbeltown, Argyll and later of Newlands, Station Road, Llanishen. He was unmarried. Charles entered Cardiff High School on 20^th January 1899, when his family were then living at 1 Ruthin Gardens, Cathays. He was head prefect and captain of hockey at the High School, which he left in 1906. He later became a partner in his father’s firm, J.J. McEachran, shipbroker, colliery agent and coal exporter, 103 Bute Street, Cardiff Docks. Charles was also a director of Cann and Glass Ltd., colliery agents and coal exporters, Cardiff and Swansea. He was a well- known local hockey player. Charles was commissioned to the 2/5^th Battalion Devonshire Regiment on 16^th November 1914 and was promoted to lieutenant on 28^th May 1915. He embarked with his battalion from Devonport on 5^th September 1915 and arrived in Egypt on 17^th September 1915. The 2/5^th Battalion was disbanded in June 1916, and so he was attached to the 1/4^th Battalion Devonshire Regiment in Mesopotamia, where he served as Scout Officer. He was killed in action when leading his platoon in a successful attack on Turkish trenches on the west bank of the Shatt-el-Hai river on 3^rd February 1917. He was 28 years of age. Lieutenant Charles McEachran is buried in Amara War Cemetery (XXI.K.20), Iraq. He is also commemorated on the Campbeltown War Memorial, Argyll and Bute; and on the war memorials in Llanishen Church and Windsor Place Presbyterian Church (City United Reform Church).

Western Mail 28.6.15 photo, 12.2.17 and 14.2.17 photo; South Wales Daily News 12.2.17, 12.2.17 and 16.2.17 photo; The Times 22.2.17.

THOMAS WILLIAM MOORE

S/22010 Rifleman 11^th (Service) Battalion Rifle Brigade, 59^th Brigade, 20^th (Light) Division.

Thomas Moore was born on 26^th May 1890 in Cardiff, the eldest son of Thomas Moore, 22 Penylan Road, Roath. His father was the proprietor of Moore and Company, who were auctioneers and valuers at 49 Queen Street. He was married to Violette Moore who lived at 10 Hazlett Road, West Kensington after the war. Thomas attended Cardiff High School from 17^th January 1901, when his family were living at 15 Senghenydd Road, Cathays, until he left during the summer of 1905.  He studied at Cardiff School of Commerce and in 1910 passed the intermediate examinations of the Institute of Auctioneers, qualifying as an Associate of the Institution (AAI). He may have later qualified as a Fellow (FAI). Thomas worked as an estate agent in Cardiff but later lived in Hampstead. He enlisted in Shepherd’s Bush. On 4^th April 1917, during the German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line, the 20^th Division undertook a successful attack on Metz-en-Couture, south of Havincourt Wood. Rifleman Thomas William Moore died of wounds 6^th April 1917, aged 26. He is buried in Bray Hill Cemetery (II.F.6), Somme, France.

Evening Express 3.6.10; South Wales Echo 12.4.17; Western Mail 13.4.17.

Thomas Moore is  listed as London Regiment on the Cardiff High School war memorial.

CYRIL THOMAS OSMOND

Lieutenant 14^th (Service) Battalion (Swansea) Welsh Regiment, 114^th Brigade, 38^th (Welsh) Division.

Formerly PS/6205 Private Royal Fusiliers.

Cyril Osmond was born   on 6^th May 1897 in Caerau, Cardiff, the younger son of Thomas and Margaret Osmond, of Ingleford, Cowbridge Road, Caerau and later of 59 Windway Road, Canton. He was unmarried. Cyril was the brother of Lionel (q.v.) who was also killed in the war.  His father was a proprietor of Osmond Brothers Ltd., contractors and quarry owners of Twynyrodyn, Wenvoe. Cyril and his brother were both admitted   to Form 2B, Cardiff High School in January 1909. At the outbreak of war, he was serving his articles with a firm of land agents and surveyors in Frome, Somerset. He enlisted early in the war at the age of 17 as a private in one of the four Public Schools battalions of the Royal Fusiliers. Cyril went on active service on the Western Front with the Royal Fusiliers on 14^th November 1915 and served there for six months. He was later commissioned to the Welsh Regiment on 4^th August 1916 and was promoted to lieutenant in 1918. After being invalided home, he spent some time recuperating at King Edward VII Hospital, Cardiff. Lieutenant Cyril Osmond was killed in action when he was shot in the neck while leading his company of the 14^th Battalion Welsh Regiment, during the Second Battle of Bapaume on 25^th August 1918. He was 21. He is buried in Bagneux British Cemetery (IV.G.24), Gezaincourt, France.

Western Mail 3.4.18 photo, 30.8.18 and 6.9.18 photo; South Wales Daily News 30.8.18 and 7.9.18 photo; South Wales Echo 7.9.18  photo.

LIONEL HENRY OSMOND 

435710 Private 50^th (Calgary) Battalion, 10^th Brigade, 4^th Canadian Division.

“Leo” Osmond was born on 28^th October 1895 in Caerau, Cardiff, the eldest son of Thomas and Margaret Osmond, of Ingleford, Cowbridge Road, Caerau and, later of 59 Windway Road, Canton. Lionel was unmarried. His brother Cyril Osmond (q.v.) was also an Old Boy and he too was killed in the war. Their father was a proprietor of Osmond Brothers Ltd., contractors and quarry owners, Twynyrodyn, Wenvoe. Both Lionel and Cyril were admitted to Form 2B Cardiff High School in January 1909. Lionel was a member of the St. David’s Church Lads Brigade, Ely. He went out to Canada in 1913 and first found work in agriculture. He then joined the Royal North West Mounted Police, as Constable 6218, and served for about a year as a “Mountie”.  Although members of the RNWMP were exempted from military service, Lionel decided to enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, joining the 50^th Battalion in Calgary, Alberta on 15^th September 1915. He embarked at Halifax, Nova Scotia with his battalion on the 27^th October 1915, arrived in Britain on 4^th November 1915 and went into training at Shorncliffe, Kent and Bramshott, Hampshire. The 4^th Canadian Division arrived in France in August 1916 and went into the line on 10^th October 1916. They captured Desire Trench, north of Courcelette in the last attack of the Battle of the Somme on 18^th November 1918. Private Lionel Osmond was first reported missing during the Battle of the Ancre and was later reported killed in action on 19^th November 1916. He was 21. He is buried in Adanac Military Cemetery, Miraumont, Somme, France (1.I.9).

South Wales Daily News 30.11.16, 1.12.16 photo and 19.11.17; South Wales Echo 30.11.16 and 7.9.18 photo;,  WesternMail 30.11.16 and 4.12.16.

EDWARD LABARTE PATERSON

Second Lieutenant 1/10^th (Scottish) Battalion attached 25^th Battalion King’s (Liverpool Regiment), 176^th Brigade, 59^th (2^nd North Midland) Division.

Formerly 53915 Private 10^th (Scottish) Battalion King’s (Liverpool Regiment).

Edward Paterson was born on 25^th May 1899 in Cardiff, the only son of James and Elizabeth Paterson of 55 Colum Road, Cardiff; later of 5 Western Drive, Grassendale, Liverpool; and then of 27 Strathbrook Road, Streatham, London. His father was an accountant based at 18 Park Place, Cardiff. His mother was a sister of the Cardiff rugby forward, David (“Dai”) Henry Lewis, who won two Welsh caps in 1885-6. Edward’s half-brother Private Alfred Poole Jones was serving with the 1/24^th Battalion London Regiment when was killed in action on 26^th May 1915. Edward attended Bethany Baptist Church then located in Wharton Street, Cardiff. He was educated at Barry County School; Cardiff High School from 19^th September 1911 to 25^th July 1913; and then Taunton School, which he left in 1916. He went on to study medicine at Liverpool University in 1917. At school and university, he served in the Officer Training Corps. Edward enlisted as a private in the Territorial 10^th Battalion King’s (Liverpool Regiment). Then, after training at Alston Hall with an Officer Cadet battalion, he was gazetted to the Liverpool Scottish Battalion. He went out to the Western Front on 2^nd October 1918 and was attached to the 25^th Battalion King’s (Liverpool Regiment), which had just come out of the line, at Erquingham, near Armentieres. In the remaining weeks of the war, this battalion was engaged in the rapid advance eastwards. On 18^th October, they left Chapelle d’Armentières and by the 20^th had reached the river Schelde north of Tournai at Esquelmes but here they encountered determined resistance. The next day, the battalion crossed the river on pontoons but could not proceed far over the marshy ground on the eastern bank where they struggled waist deep in water. It was in this operation that Edward was seriously wounded by shell-fire. Two days later, he died of wounds at No 2 Australian Casualty Clearing Station at Nouveau Monde, near Estaires, on 23^rd October 1918. He was still only 19 and had been in France just three weeks. Second Lieutenant Edward Paterson is buried in Estaires Communal Cemetery Extension, France (5.G.15). He is commemorated on the war memorials at Barry Hall of Remembrance; Bethany Baptist Church (now located in Rhiwbina); Taunton School; and Liverpool University.

South Wales Daily News 30.10.18; The Times 25.11.18.

Edward Paterson is incorrectly recorded as London Scottish on the Cardiff High School war memorial.

ARTHUR RICHMOND PERKINS

1246 Private 1^st Battalion Welsh Guards, 3^rd Guards Brigade, Guards Division.

Arthur Perkins was born on 15^th September 1889 in Abercanaid, Merthyr Tydfil, the only son of John and Francis Perkins. His father was a sergeant in the Glamorgan Constabulary, at one time stationed at St. Nicholas in the Vale of Glamorgan. His mother was a nurse and the daughter of a Glamorgan police officer. Arthur attended Peterston-super-Ely School and then Cardiff High School from January 1904 until the summer of 1905, when his family were living in the hamlet of Gwern y Steeple, near Peterston. After school, Arthur worked for the Great Western Railway. On the 1^st May 1909, when aged nineteen, he joined the Glamorgan Police and was subsequently stationed at Port Talbot, Ton Pentre and Maesteg. He resigned from the police on 11^th December 1914 and then became a clerk in Bradford City Police for a short while. He enlisted in Bradford on 24^th April 1915 and went out to the Western Front with the 1^st Battalion Welsh Guards on 17^th August 1915, disembarking at Le Havre the following day. He served as a signaller in the Prince of Wales Company and took part in the Battle of Loos in September/October 1915 when his battalion suffered many casualties. Private Arthur Perkins was killed in action during the Battle of the Somme on 10^th September 1916 at Ginchy, where the Welsh Guards again lost many men in bitter hand-to-hand fighting.   A comrade of Arthur wrote to his family: “he was a brave man and one who faced danger with a smile on his face. He joined my platoon when we marched into action, and on the way he was smoking and laughing, and didn’t care a hang about the shells that were flying around; it was a treat to have such a man with me. When we got to our position we had to start digging a trench under machine-gun fire, and it was while I was getting my platoon extended that Perkins got killed, five minutes after we took the line.” Another wrote: “He has been in my section throughout the war and was most respected by all who knew him. We feel that we have lost a good comrade and a thoroughly good signaller, and he will always be remembered by us as a man who could be relied upon to do his bit.” Arthur was 26 years of age. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, France.

Western Mail 10.09.18

Arthur Perkins is not commemorated on the Cardiff High School war memorial nor on the Glamorgan Police war memorial in Bridgend.

DAVID CYRIL PHILLIPS

1814 Private “C” Squadron, 2/1^st Glamorganshire Yeomanry, 2/1^st Mounted Brigade, 1^st Mounted Division.

David Phillips was born on the 30^th September 1894 in Cardiff, the son of David and Rachel Phillips of 24 Shirley Road, Roath Park. He was a brother of William Oswald Phillips (q.v.). They both entered Cardiff High School in January 1909. He enlisted in the Glamorgan Yeomanry in Bridgend. David Phillips died after a brief illness at the Cardiff sanatorium on the 22^nd March 1916. He was 21 and is buried in Cathays Cemetery, Cardiff (B.951). Private David Phillips is commemorated on the St. James the Great Church, Newport Road, war memorial (now removed to St John’s Church, Trinity Street, Cardiff).

South Wales Daily News 23.3.16; Western Mail 23.3.16.

WILLIAM OSWALD PHILLIPS

730605 Driver A Battery, 86^th Brigade, Fourth Army Brigade, Royal Field Artillery.

“Willie” Phillips was born on the 1^st January 1896 in Cardiff, the second son of David and Rachel Phillips of 24 Shirley Road, Roath Park. He was a brother of David Cyril Phillips (q.v.).  He entered Cardiff High School at the same time as his brother in January 1909.  He was later employed on the staff of the London, City and Midland Bank in Cardiff. Willie enlisted in Cardiff and went out to the Western Front on the 25^th November 1915. Driver William Phillips was killed in action, aged 22, on 26^th September 1918, when the Fourth Army began a preparatory bombardment for the attack on the Hindenburg Line. He is buried in Peronne Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France (V.D.11). He is commemorated on the London Joint City and Midland Bank war memorial at HSBC, 8 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London and on the St. James the Great Church, Newport Road, war memorial (now in St. John’s Church, Trinity Street).

South Wales Daily News 10.10.18; Western Mail 10.10.18 and 12.10.18 photo.

ARTHUR DILLWYN PROSSER

Lieutenant 13^th Battalion (Royal Highlanders of Canada), 3^rd Brigade, 1^st Canadian Division.

Formerly Private 101^st Regiment (Militia) and 63^rd Battalion.

Arthur Dillwyn Prosser was born on 3^rd January 1891 in Cardiff, the second son of Walter Prosser, 145 Clifton Street, Roath. His father was a butcher. “Dillwyn” had three brothers who served in the war: Campbell (Private Gloucestershire Yeomanry and Lieutenant Machine Gun Corps); Wynford (Private London Regiment and Welsh Regiment); and John Hubert (Private Royal Dublin Fusiliers, Royal Engineers and the Machine Gun Corps). Campbell and John also went to Cardiff High School and Wynford may have done. Dillwyn attended Cardiff High from September 1903 until July 1907. He was then articled to the auctioneer Howell Williams in Cardiff. In 1911, he passed the final examinations of the Auctioneers Institute and in 1913 was also successful in the final examinations of the Surveyors Institute and so was qualified as a Fellow of both institutes, FAI, FSI. He was awarded a gold medal for his performance in one of his examinations. Dillwyn was a keen competitive swimmer and diver. He was vice-captain of Cardiff YMCA water polo club in 1909 and in the following year he transferred to Cardiff water-polo club and played for their first team. By 1913, Dillwyn was working for the Inland Revenue Valuation Office for Breconshire and was based at Llandrindod Wells. That year, however, he gave up this post and went to Canada to practice as a surveyor. He presumably settled in Edmonton, Alberta, because there he served in the 101^st Regiment, Canadian Militia. Dillwyn joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force, attesting at Edmonton on 3^rd July 1915 and he served initially with the 63^rd Battalion. He embarked at Port Montreal on 11^th September 1915. He was serving as a signalling officer in the 13^th Battalion during the Battle of Mount Sorrell, when his division was subjected to a heavy German attack on the 2^nd June 1916 and driven back.  Lieutenant Arthur Dillwyn Prosser was killed while advancing on a machine-gun, when the Canadians counter-attacked and recaptured the lost ground on 13^th June 1916. He was 25 and was buried in Hooge Crater Cemetery, Zillebeke, Belgium but the location of his grave was subsequently lost. He is therefore commemorated on a Special Memorial (B.4) in that cemetery. He is also commemorated on the St. James the Great Church, Newport Road, war memorial (now located in St. John’s Church, Trinity Street) and  on a family gravestone in Cathays Cemetery, Cardiff. (“Dillwyn Prosser”).

His second name is sometimes recorded as “Dilwyn”.

South Wales Daily News 19.6.16 photo, 14.6.17, 15.6.17 and 27.8.17; Western Mail 19.6.16; Brecon County Times 19.6.13 photo.

ERIC MONTAGUE REES

Second Lieutenant 6^th (Reserve) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers attached 13^th (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers, 112^th Brigade, 37^th Division.

Formerly PS/4208 Private 21^st (Service) Battalion (4^th Public Schools) Royal Fusiliers.

Eric Rees was born in Cardiff on 9^th March 1897, the elder son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward W. Rees of 24 Connaught Road, Roath and later of Ty Gwent, 24 Lon Isa, Rhiwbina. He was admitted to Cardiff High School in September 1908. In 1913, he began studying at the South Wales and Monmouthshire School of Mines at Treforest. Eric went out to the Western Front with the 21^st Battalion (4^th Public Schools) Royal Fusiliers on 14^th November 1915 when he was only 18. He was commissioned in the Royal Fusiliers on 25^th June 1918. Attached to the 13^th Battalion, Second Lieutenant Eric Rees was killed in action, aged 21, in the Second Battle of Le Cateau during the Battles of the Hindenburg Line on 9^th October 1918. He is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial to the Missing, France. He is also commemorated on the School of Mines war memorial located at the University of South Wales at Treforest and on the war memorial in Cardiff University.

Although his death announcement in the local press refers to Eric having a Military Cross, no reference to this has been found in the records and Eric is not shown as having the MC in the Commonwealth War Graves Register.

South Wales Echo 16.10.18 photo and 17.10.18 photo; South Wales Daily News 17.11.18; Western Mail 17.10.18 photo.

Eric Rees is incorrectly recorded as RFA (Royal Field Artillery) on the Cardiff High School war memorial.

FREDERICK HAROLD REES

Surgeon Drake Battalion, Royal Naval Division, Royal Navy.

Formerly Royal army Medical Corps.

Frederick Harold Rees was born on 13^th July 1889 in Cardiff, the elder son of Dr. Alfred and Margaret Rees of Carnlwyd, 29 Cathedral Road, Pontcanna. His brother Lieutenant E.P. Rees, Royal Engineers, was awarded the Military Cross. Frederick attended Cardiff High School from 20^th September 1899 until1907, when he entered University College Cardiff to study medicine.  He went on to completed his studies at University College Hospital Medical School, London where he graduated MB, BS in 1912. He then took up an appointment in the Obstetric Department, University College Hospital, London. Before joining the armed forces, he acted as a locum for six months in his father’s medical practice in Cardiff. At first Frederick briefly served in the Royal Army Medical Corps but he was then was commissioned Surgeon Royal Naval Reserve on 9^th February 1915 and joined the Royal Naval Division at Plymouth. The RND was an infantry division initially made up of surplus Royal Navy personnel. Frederick underwent training with the RND at Blandford Forum in Dorset. He sailed for Malta in April 1915 and participated in the Gallipoli campaign. Surgeon Frederick Harold Rees died on 21^st June 1915 of wounds received the previous day while on trench duties. He was 25 and is buried in Lancashire Landing Cemetery, Gallipoli, Turkey (A.34). He is commemorated on the war memorial at Cardiff University and on the University College Hospital Medical School war memorial located in the Rockefeller Building, University College London.

Western Mail 28.6.15 photo; South Wales Daily News 29.6.17 photo; British Medical Journal 3.7.15; South Wales Echo 7.5.18.

BRUCE CARLTON RICHARDS

Lieutenant 113^th Battery, 25^th Brigade, 1^st Division, Royal Field Artillery.

Formerly 5687 Private  Inns of Court Officer Training Corps and  Gunner 4^th Glamorgan Battery, 2^nd Welsh Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, 53^rd (Welsh) Division.

Bruce Richards was born on 22^nd October 1890 in Cardiff, the second son of David and Elizabeth Richards of Courtfield, 156 Newport Road, Roath. His father was the south Wales agent for a Bristol printing firm and Bruce was the brother of Stanley Earl Richards (q.v.). He attended Cardiff High School from September 1904, when his family were living at Fern House, 72 Richards Terrace, Roath, until 1907. When war broke out, he was employed on the staff of the Cardiff timber importers Robinson, David and Co. He enlisted in the Territorials in September 1914 and served initially as a gunner in the 2^nd Welsh Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. He applied for a commission in January 1915 and joined the Inns of Court OTC at Berkhamsted on 28 August 1915. He was commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery on 16^th November 1915 and was posted to Woolwich. He went out to the Western Front on 7^th April 1916 and served in actions on the Somme, Scarpe, Vimy Ridge and Wytschaete. After a short period of leave in mid-1917, he returned to his unit in the 1^st Division and participated in the fighting in the dunes of Flanders. On the 10^th July 1917, the Germans began an intense bombardment followed by an attack on Nieuport. Whilst acting as a forward observation officer, his trench was caught by heavy shellfire and he was buried for some time. Badly wounded, he was rescued but died shortly before reaching an advanced dressing station. Bruce Richards died of wounds received in the Defence of Nieuport, aged 26, on 10^th July 1917. He is buried in Ramscappelle Road Military Cemetery, St. George’s, Belgium (II.D.3). He is also commemorated on the St. Margaret’s Church Roath and St. Edward’s Church Roath war memorials.

South Wales Daily News 17.7.17 and 18.7.18; South Wales Echo 18.7.17; Western Mail 18.7.17 photo.

STANLEY EARL RICHARDS

Second Lieutenant 1/1^st Battalion (Pioneers) Monmouthshire Regiment, 46^th (North Midland) Division.

Formerly Lance 4680 Corporal Inns of Court Officer Training Corps.

Stanley Richards was born on 14^th March 1889 in Cardiff, the eldest son of David and Elizabeth Richards, Courtfield, 156 Newport Road, Roath. His father was the south Wales agent of a Bristol printing firm and he was the brother of Bruce Carlton Richards (q.v.). Stanley enrolled at Cardiff High School on 2^nd May 1900, when his family were living at Fern House, 72 Richards Terrace, Roath, and he left in the summer of 1905. In December 1906, he joined the staff of the National Provincial Bank at Abergavenny, moving to Newport in March 1910. He then transferred in January 1913 to the bank’s head office in St. Mary Street, Cardiff. He was described in a NPB staff report as a “hardworking clerk … anxious to please and do his best”. A very talented sportsman, he played hockey at half-back for Abergavenny, Newport and Wales. He was capped against Scotland and The Times reported he played well against England in March 1913. He was also a good oarsman and stroked a winning Cardiff Rowing Club crew at the Llandaff Regatta in 1914. He joined the Inns of Court OTC on 8^th July 1915 at Berkhamsted and was commissioned into the Monmouthshire Regiment on 21^st November 1915. He went out to the Western Front on 5^th March 1916 and was slightly wounded in the foot shortly afterwards. After spending two months recuperating in hospital in London, he returned to the front for about six weeks. Second Lieutenant Stanley Richards died of stomach wounds at No. 20 Casualty Clearing Station, aged 27, on 29 August 1916. He is buried in Warlincourt Halte British Cemetery, Saulty, Pas de Calais, France (III.D.3). He is commemorated on the Newport Athletic Club war memorial on the entrance gates to Rodney Parade and on the Cardiff Rowing Club war memorial in Llandaff Rowing Club. Stanley Richards is also commemorated on the war memorials in St. Margaret’s Church Roath and St. Edward’s Church Roath.

Times 10.3.13; South Wales Daily News 31.8.16; South Wales Echo 1.9.16 photo; Western Mail 31.8.16 and 1.9.16 photo.

WILLIAM JENKIN RICHARDS

Captain 16^th (Service) Battalion (Cardiff City) Welsh Regiment, 115^th Brigade, 38^th (Welsh) Division.

Formerly 3158 Lance Corporal 21^st Battalion (4^th Public Schools) The Royal Fusiliers.

“Willie” Richards was born in Treherbert, Rhondda on 13^th December 1883, the second son of David and Anne Richards. His father was an accountant. In 1891, the family lived at The Willows, Church Road,  Whitchurch and later moved to Maindy House, North Road, Gabalfa. His younger brother Second Lieutenant Percival Morgan Richards, 10^th Bn. Royal Fusiliers, was killed in action at Pozieres on the Somme on 15^th July 1916 and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. His older brother, Captain Evan David Richards RAMC served in Gallipoli and Palestine. Willie left King’s College Taunton in the summer of 1898 and entered Cardiff High School in the first ever intake with roll number 59 on 20^th September 1898. He left in April 1899. A keen sportsman, he played hockey and football for both schools. Willie also played rugby for Whitchurch RFC, Glamorgan Wanderers RFC and helped out Cardiff RFC Reserves on several occasions. He was a member of Whitchurch tennis and golf clubs and also captained Whitchurch Cricket Club. In 1901, he was working as a clerk. When he enlisted with his brother Percival in September 1914, he was employed on the staff of the Cardiff timber importers, Robinson, David and Co. He first served in the 4^th Public Schools Battalion The Royal Fusiliers and was later commissioned in the 16^th Battalion The Welsh Regiment in May 1915. He went out to the Western Front with the 38^th (Welsh) Division on 5^th December 1915.He subsequently served with the Cardiff  City Battalion throughout 1916 and 1917 without receiving any injuries. He took part in the Battle of Mametz Wood and was with the Welsh rugby international Captain John L. Williams (with whom he played cricket for Whitchurch) when he received his mortal wound in the attack on the Hammerhead at Mametz Wood on 7^th July 1916. Just over a year later, Willie Richards was leading “A” Company in an attack by the 115^th Brigade near Langemarck, but the troops were unable to keep up with the barrage because of both the mud and the German frontal and enfilade fire. Nevertheless, under his leadership “A” Company managed to get into their objective, Eagle Trench, but there it was virtually wiped out. Captain William Jenkin Richards was killed in action during the Battle of Third Ypres, aged 33, on 27^th August 1917. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing, Belgium. He is also commemorated as “Willie Richards” on the Whitchurch war memorial and on a family headstone at Ararat Baptist Church, Whitchurch.

A new memorial to all rugby players who died in the Great War was dedicated at Craonnelle, Aisne, France in September2017. William Jenkin Richards’ name is commemorated in the accompanying Roll of Honour.

South Wales Daily News 20.7.16, 3.9.17 and 27.8.18; Western Mail 3.9.17 photo; Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News 10.11.17 photo.

LEONARD HERBERT ROBERTS

3062 Lance Corporal 1/1^st Battalion Honourable Artillery Company, 190^th Brigade, 63^rd (Royal Naval) Division.

Leonard Roberts was born on 25^th March 1892 in Cardiff, the elder son of Peter and Minnie Roberts, 14 Werfa Street, Roath. His younger brother served on the Western Front in the London Regiment. Leonard attended Cardiff High School from September 1904. After school he became an accountant, working for some years for the specialist paint company J. Dampney and Company, Bute Docks and later for the South Wales Portland Cement Company in Lower Penarth. He enlisted in the HAC, which despite its name was an infantry regiment, at Armoury House, Finsbury on 3^rd February 1915 and went overseas on 1^st July 1915. He was killed in action during the Battle of the Ancre, aged 24, while leading his section in an attack at Beaumont Hamel on 13^th November 1916. He is one of five men named on the High School memorial who died on this day.Leonard Roberts is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme.

South Wales Daily News 1.12.16 photo and 13.11.17; South Wales Echo 1.12.16; Western Mail 1.12.16.

ARTHUR LESLIE ROWE

Chief Engineer S.S. Bagdale. Mercantile Marine.

Arthur Leslie Rowe was born on 2^nd July 1888 in Cardiff, the youngest son of Edwin and Mary Rowe, 195 Newport Road, Roath. He was a grandson of Peter Rowe, who founded the Cardiff ship-owning firm of Peter Rowe and Sons. Arthur’s brother, Lieutenant Edward Vivian Rowe, 13^th Battalion Welsh Regiment, was killed in action on 1^st September 1918. Another brother, who survived the war, Major Donald Newcombe Rowe, Worcestershire Regiment, was an Old Boy of the High School. Arthur attended Cardiff High School from 20^th January 1899 until the spring of 1905. He served in the Mercantile Marine for about six years. Arthur Rowe drowned, aged 28, when his armed merchant transport was sunk in the English Channel by submarine thirteen miles from Creac’h Point, Brittany on 1^st May 1917. SS Bagdale was on a voyage from the Clyde to Nantes with coal. Twenty-three lives were lost. Arthur is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial to the Missing, London. He is also commemorated on the Cardiff Masonic Lodge war memorial and on a family gravestone at Cathays Cemetery. Both Arthur and his brother Vivian Rowe are commemorated on the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Broadway, war memorial (relocated to Trinity Methodist Church, Four Elms Road).

Western Mail 7.5.17 and 5.9.18; South Wales Echo 8.6.17.

WILLIAM MERRIFIELD SAUNDERS

122431 Private 61^st Battalion Machine Gun Corps, 61^st (2^nd South Midland) Division.

Formerly 535112 Private London Regiment.

William Saunders was born on 30^th November 1898 in Cardiff, the son of William David and Elizabeth Sarah Monk Saunders, 27 Penywain Road, Roath Park. His father was a baker and confectioner. In 1901, his family were living at 152 Corporation Road, Grangetown, where his father ran a baker’s shop. William attended Roath Park Council School and then entered Cardiff High School on 20^th September 1910, when his family were living at 165 Donald Street, Roath. He left the High School on 27^th July 1916 and later enlisted in Cardiff. William Saunders was killed in action aged 19 in the Battle of St. Quentin during the opening of the German offensive on 21^st March 1918. He is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial to the Missing, France. He is also commemorated on the Mackintosh Institute war memorial.

Photo IWM: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205388251

WILLIAM HENRY SEAGER

Second Lieutenant 10^th (Service) Battalion (1^st Gwent) South Wales Borderers, 115^th Brigade, 38^th (Welsh) Division.

Formerly Private 21^st (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers (4^th Public Schools).

“Willie” Seager was born on 28^th January 1893, the second son of Sir William Henry Seager and Lady Margaret Annie Seager of Lynwood, Newport Road, Cardiff. His father was a prominent ship-owner and ship’s chandler who was knighted in 1918. He was the Liberal MP for Cardiff East between 1918 and 1928.  Willie’s older brother John Elliot Seager was also an Old Boy of the High School and he served as a captain in the war and was awarded the Military Cross. He was appointed Sheriff of Glamorgan in 1937. A younger brother George Leighton Seager was raised to the peerage in 1962 and became Baron Leighton of St. Mellons. Willie spent three years at Cardiff High School from 15^th January 1903 until 1906. He then completed his education at Queen’s College, Taunton. He was an active member of the Roath Road Wesleyan Chapel and was closely involved with the Sunday School there. He was first employed with the Cardiff ship-owners and coal exporters Lambert Brothers Ltd. After gaining experience in the shipping trade with them, when he was 21, he joined his father’s firm W.H. Seager and Company on 14^th February 1914 and was later made a director while in the Army. At the outbreak of war, he attempted to enlist but was rejected twice as medically unfit. However, he persisted and was finally accepted at the third attempt. His address then was given as 60 Newport Road. By December 1914.he was serving as a private in No. 2 Company 21^st Battalion Royal Fusiliers (4^th Public Schools) which was then in training at Ashstead, Surrey. That month, however, he applied for a commission in the Welsh Army Corps and  he was eventually commissioned second lieutenant on 4^th May 1915, joining the 10th Battalion (1^st Gwent) South Wales Borderers who were at  Colwyn Bay. After further training near Winchester at Hursley Park and Hazely Down, the 10^th South Wales Borderers went out to France with the rest of the 38^th (Welsh) Division in December 1915, landing at Le Havre on the 4^th. The Welsh Division spent the next few weeks training and by mid-January they were deemed ready to take over part of the front line themselves near Neuve Chapelle. At this time, it was a fairly quiet area, apart from snipers and shellfire. Very shortly afterwards, however, while Willie was supervising the repair of a trench which had been damaged by shellfire, he was hit in the chest by sniper-fire. After only a few weeks in the front line, Second Lieutenant William Seager was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle on 7^th February 1916. He was 23. His company commander wrote: “By his unbounded generosity, joviality and capability he has endeared himself to every officer and man of the company. The men have lost a brilliant leader, and I – well, I have lost a brother who was my right-hand man.”
He was buried by his comrades nearby at what is now St. Vaast Post Military Cemetery, Richebourg L’Avoué, six miles north-east of Béthune. He is commemorated on the Queen’s College Taunton and Cardiff Coal Exchange war memorials.

Within months of his death, his parents donated funds in his name for a new operating theatre at the Cardiff Royal Infirmary and a special memorial plaque was placed there. They also endowed a bed in his memory at the Royal Hamadryad Seamen’s Hospital in the Docks. In addition, his parents dedicated two stained glass windows to his memory: one at Conway Road Methodist Church in Canton; and the other at Roath Road Wesleyan Chapel, which was located at the junction of City Road and Newport Road but destroyed by bombing during the Blitz. In 1939, the Willie Seager Memorial Trust was established to build and manage ten homes in Newport Road for retired seamen and their wives. In 1995, the Trustees replaced these with ten new homes in Westville Place, Penylan. Exactly a hundred years to the day after his death, in a special centenary service, the Willie Seager Trust dedicated a memorial stone at St. Edward’s Church in Roath to his memory.

Western Mail 10.2.16 photo; South Wales Echo 9.2.16 photo and 7.2.17; South Wales Daily News 14.7.15 photo and 10.2.16 photo; The Times 15.2.16.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/south-wales-echo-letters-thursday-11018257

http://www.roath.org.uk/StEdward/news/Seager.html

https://twitter.com/stedwardsroath/status/701395574524874752

ISRAEL SHIBKO

15500 Corporal 11^th (Service) Battalion Welsh Regiment (Cardiff Pals Commercial), 67^th Brigade, 22^nd Division.

 “Issey” Shibko was born in Cardiff on the 31^st May 1884, the youngest son of Abraham and Etty Shibko, 231 Newport Road, Cardiff. His parents were Polish-Russian. His father was a financier at 27 Charles Street. He also ran a pawnbroker’s business at 50 Portmanmoor Road, Splott. Issey was admitted to Cardiff High School during its first year on 17 February 1899. He left in the autumn of 1901 to go into business. He joined the Cardiff Pals Battalion in the first month of the war and served initially in a Jewish Section in No.2 Platoon A Company. The Pals trained on the South Downs and at Hastings, Sleaford and finally Aldershot. Issey was with the Cardiff Pals battalion when they landed at Boulogne on 6 September 1915. They spent only a short time on the Western Front and then, on 30^th October 1915, they sailed from Marseilles, eventually arriving in Salonika on 8^th November 1915.  He served throughout the subsequent campaign on the Salonika Front, surviving until the last few months of the war. Sickness was always a problem for the troops. Issey was admitted to No. 31 Casualty Clearing Station with pyrexia on 25^th July 1917. A few months later he was admitted to No 28 General Hospital Salonika on 22 September 1917 with dysentery. After spending time at No 5 Convalescent Camp, he returned to duty on 9^th October 1917 and for a time he was attached to the Main Ammunition Depot. Corporal Israel Shibko was killed in action during the Battle of Doiran on 18^th September 1918. The Cardiff Pals were attacking uphill towards a strongly fortified Bulgarian position and they suffered terribly in the assault. According to its commanding officer, the 11^th Welsh “ceased to exist” after the attack. Issey Shibko was reported to have been shot in the head while he took cover in a hollow. He was 34. He is commemorated on the Doiran Memorial to the Missing in Greece. He is also commemorated on the Cathedral Road Synagogue war memorial (believed to be relocated to the Cardiff Orthodox Synagogue in Cyncoed) and on a plaque in the Jewish cemetery in Highfield Road, Cardiff.

South Wales Echo 30.10.18, 26.11.18, 14.9.64 and 23.9.64; Western Mail 28.11.18; South Wales Daily News 31.10.18 and 27.11.18

Photos:  http://theyserved.wikia.com/wiki/Issey_Shibko

DAVID SIMPSON Military Cross.

Second Lieutenant 1^st Battalion Welsh Regiment, 84^th Brigade, 28^th Division.

Formerly 367 Private 7^th (Cyclist) Battalion Welsh Regiment; 2^nd Artists Rifles Officer Training Corps.

David Simpson was born on 20^th September 1898 in Cardiff, the only son of William and Amelia. Simpson, 120 Cathedral Road, Pontcanna. His father was a ship-owner.  He entered Cardiff High School in September 1898 in the school’s first intake, with a registration number of 12. At the time, his family was living very near the school at 15 Wordsworth Avenue, Roath. He left the High School in 1903 by which time the family had moved to 24 Wordsworth Avenue. He then took up a post in a coal exporting business at Cardiff Docks. He had been active in the Territorials before the war and at the outbreak was a Private in the 7^th (Cyclist) Bn. Welsh Regiment in Cardiff. After attending a training course with the 2^nd Artists Rifles Officer Training Corps he was commissioned into the Welsh Regiment on 15^th December 1915. He eventually went out to the Salonika front in September 1916 to serve with the 1^st Battalion Welsh Regiment. During 1917, he took part in “the only achievement of any note in the 1^st Battalion in this uneventful year”, according to the regimental history. This was a successful raid on a Bulgarian outpost in the Struma Valley. However, it was in this “brisk fight” that David tragically lost his life in front of the enemy’s wire. He was initially reported missing. David Simpson was killed in action on 2^nd June 1917, aged 28.  He is commemorated on the Doiran Memorial to the Missing, Greece.

Western Mail 11.6.17, 16.7.17, 8.10.17 and 9.10.17p; South Wales Echo 16.7.17.

HOWARD CECIL STEPHENS

2326 Private 1/1^st Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment, 84^th Brigade, 28^th Division.

 Howard Stephens was born October-December 1891 in Roath, Cardiff, the second son of Thomas James and Constance Isabel Stephens, 28 Stacey Road, Roath. His father was employed by Spillers and Bakers, grain millers. Howard enrolled at Cardiff High School on 16^th January 1902 when his family were living at Edendale, Station Road, Llanishen. They later moved to 34 Alfreda Road, Whitchurch. Howard left the school after four years in 1906 and eventually became head clerk of Adams and Wilson, colliery agents at their offices at 1 dock Chambers, Bute Street, Cardiff Docks. He was a very good sportsman, playing cricket for Cardiff High School Old Boys and hockey for Llanishen. In the last season before the war 1913-14, he won three Welsh hockey caps playing as a back, alongside another Old Boy, Reginald Cooke (q.v.), who also lost his life in the war. Wales lost 2-1 to Ireland at Whitchurch. They defeated Scotland 3-1 at Aberdeen and then, with only ten men for most of the game, lost 6-2 to England at Weston-Super-Mare. Howard enlisted in Newport early in the war and served in the 1/1^st Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment. This was a Territorial unit. In January 1915, they were training at Cambridge and on 13^th February 1915, Howard was with the battalion when they landed in France. Shortly afterwards, the 1/1^st Monmouthshires took part in the Second Battle of Ypres which opened on the 22^nd April 1915, when the Germans used poison gas for the first time on the Western Front. Some French troops holding their part of the Salient broke because of the gas but Canadian and British troops managed to hold the line. A few days later, during the subsequent fighting in the Battle of St. Julien, Private Howard Stephens was killed in action on 26^th April 1915.He was 24. He is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial to the Missing of the Salient, Belgium. He is also commemorated on the Whitchurch Memorial.

Western Mail 22.5.15 and 24.5.15; SWDN 24.5.15.

JOSEPH CATTELL STEPHENS

15517 Lance Corporal 11^th (Service) Battalion (Cardiff Pals Commercial) Welsh Regiment, 67^th Brigade, 22^nd Division.

Joseph Cattell Stephens was born on 15^th March 1895 in Cardiff, the son of Joseph Benjamin and Mary Jane Stephens of 27 Glenroy Street, Roath. His mother died when he was two and his father remarried in 1900. By 1901 his family were living at 25 Marlborough Road, Penylan. Joseph’s father was a solicitor with offices at 80 Queen Street, Cardiff. He entered Cardiff High School in September 1908. Joseph enlisted in Cardiff early in the war and went out to the Western Front with the Cardiff Pals on 5^th September 1915 embarking at Boulogne. On 30^th October 1915, his battalion sailed from Marseilles for Salonika, arriving on 8^th November 1915. Joseph Stephens was killed in action aged 23 during the Battle of Doiran (see Israel Shibko (q,v.) above) on 18^th September 1918. He is commemorated on the Doiran Memorial to the Missing, Greece.

South Wales Daily News 30.11.18; Western Mail 31.10.18.  

WILLIAM HARRY STRACHAN

56643 Private 1^st Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 22^nd Brigade, 7^th Division.

Formerly 39162 Private 18^th (Service) Battalion (2^nd Glamorgan) Welsh Regiment.

William Strachan was born on 5^th September 1886 in Cardiff, the fifth son of John and Catherine Strachan, Craigisla, a substantial house in Penylan and later of Spring Lodge, Sydenham. His father was a well-known civil engineer and railway and public works contractor. He attended Cardiff High School from 19^th January 1900 to December 1902. He played cricket for the school and won the boys cricket league playing for Roath Park Presbyterian CC in 1901. He also played rugby for Roath Crescents and other local teams. Both his parents pre-deceased him. William was killed in action aged 29 at Delville Wood during the Battle of the Somme on 27^th August 1916. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, France. He is also commemorated on the Penylan Road Presbyterian Church war memorial tablet.

A new memorial to all rugby players who died in the Great War was dedicated at Craonnelle, Aisne, France in September2017. William Harry Strachan’s name is commemorated in the accompanying Roll of Honour.

South Wales Echo 19.09.16; Western Mail 20.09.16.

JAMES STEPHENSON TAYLOR

56524 Corporal 16^th (Service) Battalion (Cardiff City) Welsh Regiment, 115^th Brigade, 38^th (Welsh) Division.

Formerly 1448 Corporal 2/7^th (Cyclist) Battalion Welsh Regiment.

“Jimmy” Taylor was born on 20^th May 1897 in Canton, the eldest son of John S. and F.D. Taylor, 297 Albany Road, Roath Park. His father was the City Auditor and Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths for the Cardiff District and was an active committee member of Cardiff and Glamorgan County cricket clubs. After Jimmy’s father’s death, his mother became the registrar. James first attended Monkton House School and then transferred to Cardiff High School in September 1909. He was a keen sportsman and played for Cardiff Cricket Club and Rexton Association Football Club. He enlisted in Cardiff in the Territorial 7^th (Cyclist) Battalion Welsh Regiment at the outbreak of war. He later transferred to the Cardiff City Battalion and went out to the Western Front in July 1916, probably as a replacement after the Battle of Mametz Wood. James Taylor took part in an attack by the 115^th Brigade near Langemarck but the troops were unable to keep up with the barrage because of the mud and the German frontal and enfilade fire. He was killed in action during the Battle of Third Ypres, aged 20, on 27^th August 1917. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing, Belgium. He is also commemorated on the war memorials in St. Margaret’s Church Roath and St. Edward’s Church Roath.

Western Mail 5.9.17 photo; South wales Daily News 5.9.17 photo.

ANEURIN CLEMENT THOMAS

Captain 2/1^st  Glamorgan Royal Horse Artillery.

Formerly Private Glamorgan Yeomanry.

Aneurin Thomas was born October-December 1887 in St. Fagans, the second son of Evan and Helen Mary Thomas, Persondy Farm, St. Fagans. His father was a farmer and butcher. He entered Cardiff High School on 20^th September 1899, when his family were living at Llwyn-yr-Eos, now an in situ farmhouse within the St. Fagans National History Museum. He left the High School in December 1903. Aneurin married Mildred Conway Phillips of Gwylfa, St. Martin’s Road, Caerphilly on 30^th September 1915. He served as a private in the Glamorgan Yeomanry and was then commissioned second lieutenant into the Royal Horse Artillery on 16^th April 1915 and had been promoted to lieutenant around the time of his marriage. He was promoted again to captain on 5^th May 1916. He served in the 2/1^st Glamorgan Royal Horse Artillery. This Territorial Force unit had its HQ at Port Talbot. It is not known whether Aneurin served overseas. At the time of his death, he is recorded in the monthly Army List as being employed by the Ministry of Munitions. He died aged 31 at the 3^rd London General Hospital, Royal Victoria Patriotic School, Fitzhugh Grove, Trinity Road, Wandsworth on 13^th November 1918. Aneurin Thomas is buried in a Commonwealth War Graves Commission plot (family headstone) in St. Fagans churchyard and he is commemorated on the St. Fagans war memorial.

Western Mail 16.4.15, 1.10.15 & 16.11.18; South Wales Echo 15.11.18.

ARTHUR THOMAS

198641 Gunner Divisional Ammunition Column, Royal Field Artillery, 50^th (Northumbrian) Division.

Arthur Thomas was born on 19^th February 1891, the younger son of Thomas and Mary Thomas, 45 Kimberley Road, Penylan. Arthur was admitted to Cardiff High School on 25^th April 1904, when his family were living at 7 Adamsdown Square, and he left the school in 1907. He then became an accountant in his father’s office at 34 Queen Street. He enlisted in Cardiff in January 1917. He had been serving on the Western Front for over a year when he was taken prisoner on 27^th May 1918, during a major attack by the Germans on the opening day of the Battle of the Aisne. After receiving a letter from him dated 10^th August, his mother heard no more. Arthur Thomas died at Trelon, aged 27, when a prisoner of war on 18^th August 1918. He is buried nearby in Glageon Communal Cemetery, Nord, France.

South Wales Daily News 16.10.18 & 16.5.19; Western Mail 9.1.19 & 21.5.19 photo.

FRANK SYLVESTER ULLRICH

452188 Corporal Divisional Signal Company, Royal Engineers, 75^th Division.

Formerly 538 Sapper Divisional Signal Company, Royal Engineers, 53^rd (Welsh) Division.

Frank Ullrich was born on 28^th April 1892 in Cardiff, the son of Sylvester and Margaret Ullrich of 6 (later 46) Ryder Street, Pontcanna. His father was German born while his mother was from Monmouthshire. His two brothers also served in the war. He was admitted to Cardiff High School in September 1905 and joined the Town Clerk’s staff as a junior clerk in City Hall in 1909 and later became a shorthand and general clerk. He enlisted as a sapper in the Royal Engineers in 1914 and embarked for Alexandria, Egypt with the 53^rd (Welsh) Division on 27^th July 1915 and took part in the landing at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli on or soon after the 9^th August 1915. Frank contracted dysentery at Gallipoli and was invalided home for treatment. He later returned to Egypt where joined the newly formed 75^th Division and was promoted. In 1917, the 75^th Division participated in the Invasion of Palestine. Between 27^th October and 7^th November 1917, it was engaged in the Third Battle of Gaza and on the 13^th and 14^th November the 75^th Division took part in the capture of Junction Station. Frank Ullrich was killed in action on 14^th November 1917, aged 25, and is buried in Ramleh War Cemetery, Palestine. He is commemorated on the Cardiff Corporation memorial in City Hall.

Western Mail 2.12.16 photo & 27.11.17 photo; South Wales Echo 28.11.17 photo.

Photo: http://glamarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/2-Town-Clerks-Roll-of-Honour.pdf

HARRY ADRIAN VENABLES

Midshipman HMS Narborough. Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

Harry Venables was born on 15th September 1899 in Cardiff, the son of Harry and Elizabeth Venables of 19 Plasturton Gardens, Pontcanna and later of Bronllwyn, Wingfield Road, Whitchurch. His father was a solicitor, with Vaughan and Roche, 31 West Bute Street, Cardiff Docks. Harry attended Cardiff High School from 29^th September 1910, when his family home was at 53 Talbot Street, Pontcanna. He left the High School on 16^th April 1915 to continue his education at Hereford Cathedral School, where he played in the cricket XI and served in the Officer Training Corps. Harry joined the Royal Navy from school and his seniority as Midshipman RNVR was dated 27^th August 1917 (1917 Navy List). Following three weeks at the Crystal Palace navy training depot and six weeks on a gunnery course at Portsmouth, he served for two weeks in a coastal patrol boat. In December 1917, he was posted to the Grand Fleet. A month later, his destroyer, HMS Narborough, in company with HMS Opal, was returning to Scapa Flow in a violent snow storm when both ships ran at full speed into rocks at Hesta Head, South Ronaldsay, Orkney. All but one of the 189 members of the two crews were lost. Midshipman Harry Venables was drowned at sea 12^th January 1918. He was only 18 years old. He is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial and on the war memorial at Hereford Cathedral School.

South Wales Daily News 17.1.18 & 19.1.18 page;  Western Mail 17.1.18; South Wales Echo 19.1.18 photo;, Cardiff Times 26.1.18.

Photo: http://www.herefordcs.com/harry-vivian-venables—died-12-january-1918

Photo: Last Page (p52): http://www.oldherefordiansclub.co.uk/StaticFiles/HerefordCathedralITW_0000001255.pdf

GEORGE WALKER

56540 Private 16^th (Service) Battalion (Cardiff City) Welsh Regiment, 115^th Brigade, 38^th (Welsh) Division.

Formerly 1642 Private Welsh Regiment.

 George Walker was born on 17^th April 1897 in Manchester, the son of Frank and Lucy Walker, later of 18 Colchester Avenue, Penylan. His father was a commercial traveller. He entered Cardiff High School in September 1909, when his family were living at 10 Penylan Place. After leaving school, he was employed as a clerk in a coal exporting business. He was unmarried. George enlisted in Cardiff on 28^th September 1914, possibly in the Territorial 7^th (Cyclist) Battalion Welsh Regiment. He later transferred to the Cardiff City Battalion and went out to the Western Front in July 1916, probably as a replacement for the many losses incurred by the battalion at the Battle of Mametz Wood. George Walker died, aged 20, of pneumonia contracted while on active service, at No. 46 Casualty Clearing Station on 26^th May 1917. He is buried in Mendinghem British Cemetery, Proven, Belgium. (II.C.22) and is commemorated on the war memorials in St. Margaret’s Church Roath and St. Edward’s Church Roath.

Western Mail 30.5.17.

HENRY RUSSELL WEEKS

Captain 1^st Battalion Welsh Regiment, 84^th Brigade, 28^th Division.

Formerly 3148 Private 21^st (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers (4^th Public Schools); Second Lieutenant 12^th (Reserve) Battalion Welsh Regiment; Lieutenant attached 1/4^th (Denbighshire) Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers; Captain 51^st (Graduated) Battalion South Wales Borderers.

Henry Weeks was born on 29^th December 1894 in Brynmawr, Breconshire, the second son of Alfred and Ada Weeks, The Mount, 40 Ninian Road, Roath Park and later of Ealing. His father was a retired cattle dealer. He was a brother of Herbert Weeks (q.v.). Henry entered Cardiff High School in September 1906 when his family were living at 75 Connaught Road, Roath. He left to attend Llandovery College from 1908 until 1912, when he entered University College Cardiff.  Henry was a member of Radyr Golf Club. In the early part of the war, whilst still a student he assisted in the campaign for the recruitment of the Public Schools battalions of the Royal Fusiliers. Henry enlisted as a private on 15^th September 1914 in the 21^st Battalion Royal Fusiliers. Known as the 4^th Public Schools, they were raised at Epsom and formed part of the Public Schools Brigade. He was commissioned into the 12^th (Reserve) Battalion Welsh Regiment on 14 January 1915 and was promoted to Lieutenant on 15^th July 1915. A month later, on 15^th August 1915, he went on active service to the Western Front attached to the 1/4^th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers. This unit was then in the 1^st Division, but two weeks later, it transferred to the 47^th Division as a Pioneer Battalion. After 18 months service, on 3^rd February 1917, Henry suffered shrapnel wounds to the throat at “Woodgate House” near Ypres. He was treated in hospital in France for ten days and was then returned to Britain and spent six weeks at the London Hospital. On 27^th April 1917, he was promoted to Captain. While fully recovering from his wounds, he was posted to 51^st (Graduated) Battalion South Wales Borderers at Aldeburgh, Suffolk. He was then transferred to the 1^st Battalion Welsh Regiment and went out to the Salonika front arriving on 18^th July 1918. On 18th September 1918, he took part in the British advance against the Bulgarians in the Battle of Doiran, where he was severely wounded and reported missing. Captain Henry Weeks died of wounds in Bulgarian hands on 23rd September 1918 aged 24. His body was later exhumed and buried in Doiran Military Cemetery, Greece (VI.K.12). He is commemorated on war memorials at Llandovery College and Cardiff University.

Western Mail 22.02.17 photo; 28.9.18; 30.09.18; & 9.10.18 photo.

HERBERT WARD MEREDITH WEEKS

Lieutenant 2^nd Battalion South Wales Borderers, 87^th Brigade, 29^th Division.

Herbert Weeks was born on 28^th August 1892 in Brynmawr, Breconshire, the eldest son of Alfred and Ada Weeks, The Mount, 40 Ninian Road, Roath Park and later of Ealing. His father was a retired cattle dealer. He was a brother of Henry Weeks (q.v.). Herbert entered Cardiff High School in 1904 when his family were living at 75 Connaught Road, Roath. He left at Easter 1907 to attend Llandovery College until 1911. At Llandovery, he played in the First cricket XI. He then won a place at The Queen’s College, Oxford. There he read Mathematics and took his BA degree in 1914. He was commissioned into a Reserve Battalion of the South Wales Borderers on 23^rd February 1915 and was promoted to Lieutenant on 11^th October 1915.  He went out to the Western Front on 15^th December 1916 and there he served with the 2^nd Battalion South Wales Borderers. During 1917, Herbert’s Division was heavily engaged in the Arras Offensive and the Third Battle of Ypres. In November they took part in the Battle of Cambrai. On the 20^th, Herbert’s 87^th Brigade was given the objective of capturing Marcoing village and the 2^nd South Wales Borderers’ specific objectives were Marcoing Copse and the lock to its north-east. Lieutenant Herbert Weeks was the company commander of A Company which suffered many casualties from machine-gun fire as they attacked. Leading his men, he was badly wounded in the advance and he died of his wounds, aged 25, three days later on the 23^rd November 1917. He is buried in Tincourt New British Cemetery, Somme, France (II.F.21). He is also commemorated on the Llandovery College war memorial.

Western Mail 3.12.17; & 4.12.17 photo.

 

SIDNEY ARCHER WILKES

Second Lieutenant 4^th (Reserve) Battalion attached 1/7^th (Fife) Battalion The Black Watch, 153^rd Brigade, 51^st (Highland) Division.

Formerly Private 201465 4^th (Reserve) Battalion The Black Watch.

Sidney Archer Wilkes was born on 6^th November 1880 in Kingwinsford, Staffordshire, the youngest of seven sons of John and Annie Wilkes. His father was a commercial traveller for a brewery. Sidney married Alice May Anderson in Conwy, Caernarfonshire in 1908.They had two daughters. He attended King Edwards School Dudley from 1894 to 1896 and later Ashton School in Dunstable. He matriculated in 1901 as a Non-Collegiate student at Oxford University, boarding at 18 Hockmore Street, Cowley. He graduated BA, presumably in 1904, and later took his MA. He then had teaching posts at Clifton School Dunstable and King’s School Peterborough where he was an assistant master. He joined the staff of Cardiff High School in September 1910 as an assistant master. In 1911, he and his wife and two daughters were living at 140 Kimberley Road, Penylan and they later moved to 14 Alfreda Road, Whitchurch. When he enlisted in the Army in 1916, he was head of the junior school. He joined the Territorials as a private in the 3/4^th Battalion The Black Watch but shortly afterwards, following amalgamation at Ripon, this became the 4^th (Reserve) Battalion of the Highland Reserve Brigade, Territorial Force. He was commissioned on 30^th May 1917. He spent about two years training in Britain before he went on active service around nine months before his death. He was killed in action on 24^th August 1918. He is buried in Roclincourt Military Cemetery, near Arras, France (IV.E.13). He is also commemorated on the King Edwards School Dudley war memorial and on the King’s School Peterborough war memorial located in Peterborough Cathedral.

Western Mail 11.09.18 and 28.09.18 photo.

FREDERIC CHARLES WILLIAMS

166903 Pioneer ‘O’ Special Company, 4^th Battalion, Special Brigade, Royal Engineers.

 Frederic Williams was born on 24^th December 1893 in Brixton, London, the only son of John and Maude Williams, later of 16 Ladysmith Road, Penylan. He entered Cardiff High School in January 1908. He enlisted in Westminster and served in “O” Special Gas Company, Royal Engineers. The Special Gas Companies were formed as a response to the Germans’ first use of chlorine gas in April 1915. The first Companies were formed in July 1915 using men with suitable technical skills. Frederic Williams was killed in action, aged 23, on the 24^th July 1917. He was buried in Cite Calonne Military Cemetery near Lens but his grave was later destroyed by shellfire. He is now commemorated on the Cite Calonne Military Cemetery Memorial 7, Loos British Cemetery, France. He is commemorated on the St. Edward’s Church Roath war memorial.

South Wales Daily News 31.7.17; Western Mail 31.7.17.

RICE WATKIN WILLIAMS    

PS/1075 Private 23^rd (Service) Battalion (1^st Sportsman’s) Royal Fusiliers, 99^th Brigade, 2^nd Division.

 Rice Williams was born on 16^th September 1890 in Treorchy, Rhondda, the only son of Henry and Sarah Williams, later of 18 Ninian Road, Roath Park, Cardiff. He attended Cardiff High School for one term in the autumn of 1904 and then left to continue his education from 1905 to 1909 at Llandovery College, where he was a member of the rugby First XV and also played cricket. After school, Rice worked in the shipping business at Cardiff docks as a chartering clerk. He was a keen sportsman, and played rugby at half back and three-quarter for Cardiff Roxburgh RFC. He also spent some time in Bordeaux where, in 1911-12, he played at three-quarter for Stade Bordelais who, a year earlier in 1910-11, had won the French Championship for the seventh time. After losing his place there, Rice joined the Burdigala (Bordeaux) rugby club. He enlisted in Cardiff early in the war in one of the four Public Schools battalions of the Royal Fusiliers but later transferred to the 23^rd Battalion (1^st Sportsman’s) Royal Fusiliers. This battalion arrived in France on 17^th November 1915, though it is not known whether Rice had joined them then. He was, however, subsequently wounded twice, so he must have served in France some time before his death. Private Rice Williams was killed in action on the Somme, by machine-gun fire during the 2^nd Division’s attack on Redan Ridge during the Battle of the Ancre, on 13^th November 1916. His captain wrote to his sister: “Your loss is my loss: he was a good and very keen soldier and undoubtedly the most popular man in the platoon”. Aged 26, he was one of five old boys of Cardiff High School killed that particular day. Rice Watkin Williams is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, France. He is also commemorated on the war memorials at Llandovery College; St. Edward’s Church, Roath; and St. Martin’s Church, Albany Road, Cardiff.

A new memorial to all rugby players who died in the Great War was dedicated at Craonnelle, Aisne, France in September2017. Rice Watkin Williams’ name is commemorated in the accompanying Roll of Honour.

Western Mail 1.1.17 & 2.1.17 photo.

GLYNNE LOUGHER YORATH

Lieutenant 12^th (Service) Battalion (3^rd Gwent) South Wales Borderers, 119^th Brigade, 40^th Division.

Formerly P2201 Private 1/1^st Brecknockshire Battalion, South Wales Borderers, 132^nd Brigade, 44^th (Home Counties) Division, Territorial Force.

 Glynne Yorath was born on the 17^th August 1894, the second son of Councillor William Lougher and Elizabeth Ann Yorath of 135 Richmond Road, Roath and later Strathlyn, Tydraw Road, Roath Park. His father was the coroner for Cardiff. He attended Cardiff High School from January 1905. He later went to Queen’s College Taunton. His older brother Kenneth L. Yorath also attended the High School, as well as Queen’s Taunton, and he served as a Major in the Royal Field Artillery during the war. In 1911, Glynne entered University College Cardiff where he studied law. He later became a solicitor’s articled clerk to F.N. Jones of Cardiff.  An active sportsman, he played cricket for Cardiff and for Cardiff Articled Clerks and was also a member of Cardiff Rowing Club (though he is not commemorated on the club war memorial at Llandaff). He enlisted on 2^nd September 1914 as a private in the Brecknockshire Battalion, South Wales Borderers and served in Aden and India in 1915. He was later commissioned second lieutenant into the South Wales Borderers on 20^th November 1915 and promoted to lieutenant in July 1917. Lieutenant Glynne Lougher Yorath was killed in action in his battalion’s arrack on the eastern end of Bourlon village during the Battle of Cambrai on 23 November 1917. The 12^th SWB met strong opposition as they fought their way up the slopes of Bourlon Wood and Glynne was one of ten officers and 123 men of the battalion who lost their lives. His Company Sergeant Major wrote to his father: “Your son was perhaps the coolest and most courageous of those officers in our company, and he walked up and down the line encouraging the men, one and all of us felt more than proud of him. Not once until he was killed did he cease to cheer and encourage his men on.” (Quotation from Queen’s College Taunton War Memorial, 1919). Glynne was 23 and is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial to the Missing at Louveral Military Cemetery, France. He is also commemorated on war memorials at Queen’s College Taunton, Cardiff University and St. Martin’s Church, Albany Road, Cardiff.

South Wales Echo 21.4.15 photo, & 3.12.17; Western Mail 1.12.17 photo, & 3.12.17; South Wales Daily News 12.10.15 photo, 1.12.17, & 3.12.17 photo

 

Gwyn Prescott 13.05.17 Updated 06.10.2019

---

Those who lost their loves in WWII are not remembered on a memorial but this article that appeared in the Western Mail on 13 March 1946 records the names of the fallen past pupils:

The names are transcribed here:

GEORGE WILLIAM ACKERMAN

Flight Sergeant, 57 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Service Number: 1407092)

George William Ackerman was born in 1922 in Cardiff to George Ackerman, a dock wharf labourer, and Eva Ackerman née Christelow.  He attended Cardiff High School for Boys.  In 1939 the Ackerman family were living at 37 Clydesmuir Road, Tremorfa. In 1942 George marries Betty Gallie. They have two children, one of which is born some months after George is killed aged 22.  George joins the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve but is shot down over Germany on 21 Mar 1945. He was aboard Lancaster LM653 which crashed just near the village of Friedrichsthal, east of Kransberg, in western Germany (north of Frankfurt). This was the last operational loss of 57 Squadron for WWII. The crew’s mission was a diversionary raid on the town of Halle; the main force targeting the synthetic oil plant at Böhlen.  The crew of LM653 were initially buried in a communal grave in Kransberg and were later (post-war) reinterred in the Hanover War Cemetery.  Commonwealth War Graves Commission record.

Charles John Arthur

The following information and picture is taken from the Battle of Britain Monument website:  Charles John Arthur, of Radyr, Glamorgan, was born in 1918. His mother, Margaret Elizabeth, had been born in Bridgetown, Barbados. She was listed in the 1911 census as a teacher at The Girls’ High School Monmouth. She died in 1922. She had married James Fitzgerald Arthur in Canada. He was a mechanical engineer who rose to a senior position with the Cardiff Railway, which became part of the Great Western Railway in 1923. He died in 1962.  Arthur joined the RAF on a short service commission in May 1939.  He was posted to 248 Squadron when it was reformed at Hendon in October 1939. A Coastal Command squadron, it was seconded to Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain.  Arthur was lost on 27th August 1940, when his Blenheim IV, L9449, failed to return from a reconnaissance flight to the south Norwegian coast. The aircraft is known to have crashed into the sea, perhaps shot down by fighters. The body of the air gunner, Sgt. RCR Cox, was washed up in Sweden.  Arthur and his observer, Sgt. AE Ringwood, were never found. Their names are on the Runnymede Memorial, Panels 7 and 22 respectively. Arthur was 22 years old.

Jack Coode Bate

Douglas John Bigham

Rudolf Leslie Blick

Frank W Bonnell

George Justin Bush

David Charles

Paul Clompus

Marley Cooke

V  H Daniel

Cecil Rhys Davies

Henry Lewis Davies

William E Davies

Kenneth F Dickenson

D A Dutton

Denys J Elias

J A Elliot

B H Evans

John Raymond Frost

George Frederick Garland

Robert William Gentle

Willy Oscar Christian Gotaas

Robert Edbrooke Griffiths

Rhys Lewis Griffiths

Alexander Guthrie

John Stuart Harries

Leslie Harris

BRIAN HILL

Flying Officer,  355 Squadron. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Service Number 163701)

Brian Hill was born on 8th Oct 1917 to Sydney James Hill, a ship’s joiner, originally from Swansea and Eva Bessie Hill née Howell originally from Wokingham, Surrey. Brian attended Cardiff High School for Boys.  In 1939 the Hill family were living at 35 Inglefield Avenue, Heath and Brian working as a clerk in a transport company.  He was a member of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.  On 11 Feb 1943 he was a Sergeant and aboard a Halifax bomber when it crashed in Yorkshire.  He was the only crew member to survive.  He was admitted to the Sick Quarters at Driffield airfield and reportedly sustained severe concussion. He later recovered and returned to active service and received his commission on 28 January 1944 to the rank of P/O on probation (emergency) (163701). He was later promoted to F/O (war subs) on 28th July 1944. On 2 May 1945 he was flying with 355 Squadron from Salbani, India when he died flying in Liberator KH210 which crashed in the Bay of Bengal. An engine caught fire and the plane crashed 130 miles south of Calcutta. He was twenty eight years old and is commemorated on the Singapore Memorial (Column 447). Commonwealth War Graves Commission record.

Vernon E Hill

Emrys Hopkins

WILLIAM ARTHUR HUGHES

Wing Commander, 22 Ferry Control, Royal Air Force (Service Number: 33115)

William Arthur Hughes was born in Cardiff in 1913 to Edward Elliss Hughes, an editor at the Western Mail, originally from Aberystwyth, and Margaret Anne Hughes née Rees, originally from Llanbadarn-Fawr, Cardiganshire.  He grew up at 23 Tydfil Place, Roath Park and attended Cardiff High School on Newport Road, before embarking on a career in the RAF. He passed through Cranwell College with distinction in 1934. After service in Gibraltar and North Africa, he created a new flying-boat speed record with a short-Sunderland between Milford Dock and Gibraltar reducing the previous time of 11 hours to 8 hours. He also commanded the first four-engined Sunderland to be sent to Singapore. In 1939 he married Elizabeth Anne Sounders, of Marloes Rectory, Pembrokeshire, in Marylebone, London. They went on to have a son born Pembrokeshire in 1940. William Arthur Hughes was killed in a flying accident in India on 27 Nov 1943, aged 30, when serving with the 22 Ferry Control Unit.  In total seven airmen lost their lives when the Lockheed Hudson IV crashed.  He is buried in Delhi War Cemetery (grave I.C.3).  Commonwealth War Graves Commission record.

Roy L Hutchinson

James Lancaster Hutchinson

Harry Trelawney Jago

Glyndwr James

Ronald Stuart Jenkins

Clifford Trevor John

R Jones

Donald Kemp

Perry Linnard

William Rex Loxtun

W H Martin

James Kennedy McFarlane

John McLennan

Donald P G Miller

Gordon Thomas Mills

Arthur John Mitchell

J F Morgan

Harry Richard Morgan

Arthur Rex Nankivell

J M O O’Sullivan

E Trevor Owen

W G Peploe

Eric Charles Perkins

Owen W Phillips

J Rosslyn R Price

William Henry Pritchard

G E Probert

Hubert Raymond Church Pryce

Clifford Mervyn Randall

Gilbert Ivor Rees

Thomas Edward William Reynolds

Ivor Glyn Thomas Roberts

David Mountford Sharp

Maurice Gordon Sharp

C D A Short

Dennis P Smith

BERNARD WELBY SOMERFORD

Sergeant (Navigator (Bomber)), 420 (R.C.A.F.) Squadron, Royal Air Force (Service Number 658354)

Bernard Welby Somerford was born in Tenbury, Worcestershire in 1920 to George William Welby Somerford, a drapers clerk, originally from Tunbridge Wells, Kent and Lavinia Annie Somerford, nee Hillier, a drapers assistant, originally from Frome, Somerset. The Somerford family moved to Cardiff living at 52 Princes Street and Bernard’s father worked as an advertising representative for the Western Mail and Echo but Bernard’s mother died when he was just twelve.  He attended Cardiff High School for Boys and on leaving school he worked for Cardiff City council on the staff of the Public Assistance Department at Cardiff City Hall. He played cricket for Cardiff High Old Boys and was a member of Charles Street Congregational Church where he worked with the Youth Group. He joined the 6th Battalion Welsh Regiment (Territorials) in 1938 and remained in the Royal Artillery (Searchlights) until his transfer to the RAF in 1941. He died on 13 Feb 1943 aged 22 when the Wellington bomber he was in crashed near Lorient, Brittany.  The plane had taken off from Middleton St. George airfield, Co Durham as part of a bombing raid on the port of Lorient.  All five crew members were killed when the Wellington crashed in the target area. He is buried at Guidel Communal Cemetery in Brittany (Row 6, Grave 21). He is remembered on the memorial for Cardiff Corporation employees at Cardiff City Hall.  Commonwealth War Graves record.

Vivian R Spear

Richard J Stevens

Arnold Strong

George Alexander Tanner

CYRIL CADLE TAYLER

Lieutenant, 1st Wing, The Glider Pilot Regiment, A.A.C. (Service Number 174387)

Cyril Cadle Tayler was born on 27 May 1920 in Cardiff to Herbert William Tayler, a managing director of a tobacconist, originally from Aldsworth, Gloucestershire, and Jessie Tayler from Lancashire. Cyril attended Cardiff High School for Boys on Newport Road, Cardiff and lived at 94 Colchester Avenue, Panylan, Cardiff. He was commissioned in the Royal Welch Fusiliers on 18 September 1942, and volunteered for airborne forces.  He married Beryl Ward from Northleach, Gloucestershire in early 1944.  Lieutenant Tayler successfully completed his glider pilot training and was posted to A Squadron, 1 Flight, 1st Wing, The Glider Pilot Regiment, and took part in Operation Market Garden (Arnhem).  He was the pilot of Horsa glider CN140, which landed on the Johannahoeve on 19 September 1944.  He was possibly wounded and taken POW.  He died of his wounds on 20 September, aged 24, and was given a field burial in the German Military Cemetery at Grebbeberg, east of Rhenen and was re-interred to Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery on 10 November 1945 (Ref: Para Data). He is remembered on the memorial plaques at St Edward’s church, Penylan,  at St Peter & St Paul church, in Northleach, on Northleach village war memorial and a memorial stone on the family grave in Northleach cemetery. Commonwealth War Graves Commission record.

---

Ramsay Robert Tett

---

Ceredig Thomas:-

RICHARD CEREDIG THOMAS

Pilot Officer, 235 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Service Number: 82731)

Richard  Ceredig Thomas was born in early 1911 in Ton Pentre, Rhondda, to Rev John James Thomas, a church minister, originally from Eisteddfa Gurig, Ponterwyd, Cardiganshire, and Annie Thomas née Morgan originally from Rhyader, Radnorshire. Ceredig grew up in Cardiff where his father became minister at Crwys Hall in Cathays. He attended Cardiff High School.  His father was a prominent member of the Forward Movement of churches and Secretary to SASWIN (South Wales Association of Presbyterian churches).  In 1935 the Western Mail reported that SASWIN appealed to the Pope to summon a Conference of all Christian communities to renounce war.  In Dec 1935 Ceredig became engaged to Mary Nansi Williams of Lady Mary Road, daughter of the late R.Trefor Williams OBE, Chief Inspector to the Minister of Health. Ceredig and Mary married in Cardiff in 1939.  He joined the RAFVR about May 1939 as an Airman/Observer.  He was called up on 1 Sep 1939, completed his training, was commissioned and joined 235 Squadron on 16 Aug 1940.  He was one of the crew of Blenheim N3530 which failed to return from combat with enemy fighters over the English Channel on 9 Oct 1940 having taken off from RAF Thorney Island, West Sussex earlier. Richard Ceredig Thomas, aged 28, and Sgt. GE Keel were killed and the pilot, P/O JC Kirkpatrick, was reported missing.  The body of Ceredig Thomas was later recovered and returned to Cardiff for burial at Cathays Cemetery (grave P1094).  He was remembered on the Crwys Hall Roll of Honour (whereabouts unknown).  Commonwealth War Graves Commission record. His CWGC record and his probate give his address as Llanover, Abergavenny, where his father was by then working as a minister.  Ceredig’s widow Nansi later remarried and moved to Australia.

---

Daniel Thomas

David L Thomas

Gerald Leslie Tudor

Arthur John Peter Watts

Harry R Wakley

John Lenden West

Bernard E Williams

Gordon F Williams

JANSEN OSWALD DAVID WILLIAMS

Captain, 11th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps (Service Number 175669)

Jansen Oswald David Williams was born in the Bridgend area on 14 Nov 1917 to David Isaac Williams, a military contractor and caterer, and Hannah Williams, née Richards.  Jansen attended Bridgend Grammar school and Cardiff High School for Boys before embarking in further education at Emmanuel College Cambridge and qualified as a surgeon by training at and St Thomas’ Hospital, London. The Williams family live at 51 Ninian Road, Roath Park.  In 1941 he married Sylvia ‘Joy’ Baldwin in Amersham, Bucks. He joins the 11th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical which landed at Algiers in the November of 1942 before going through to Tunis in the May of 1943 then on to Sicily and Italy. He was killed by a shell on 4 Oct 1943, aged 25, at River Biferno, near Termoli, Italy They were with the Lancashire Fusiliers and the unit were in a barn putting a Thomas splint on a casualty with a broken thigh when they received a direct hit. Captain J.O.D.Williams and three of the others in the unit were killed. They were buried nearby and the bodies later re-interred in the Sangro River War Cemetery, Italy.  He is remembered on the war memorial plaque in Roath Park Congregational church (now Tabernacle).  He is also remembered at Bridgend Grammar school, Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and St Thomas’ Hospital chapel.  Commonwealth War Graves Commission record.