The peaceful village of Llangadog is situated in the Towy Valley, between Llandovery and Llandeilo. Unlike most of the other local towns and villages there seems to be no single main War Memorial at Llangadog, but there are several in the village. There are two plaques inside Gosen Chapel which commemorate its members who fell during both world wars, while St. Cadog’s Church at Llangadog contains a memorial for its parishioners who fell during World War Two. This page commemorates the men named on the St. Cadog’s memorial.
World War Two, 1939-1945
Ifor Pershing Davies, Fireman & Trimmer, Merchant Navy. Ifor was born on 15 September 1919, the son of Henry and Annie Davies, of Llangadog. He served in the Merchant Navy aboard the Cardiff registered steamer SS Ruperra. The ship was sailing as part of Convoy HX-79, when she was sunk by the German Submarine U-46 on 19 October 1940. Ifor was killed in the sinking aged just 21, and is remembered on the Tower Hill Memorial, London.
Morgan Gwyn Hughes, Private, 13072700, Pioneer Corps. Morgan was the son of Joseph and Mary Hughes, of Glandyrfal, Llangadog. He served with the Pioneer Corps. Little is known of Morgan’s service, but he died at Stoke Military Hospital, Devonport on 19 January 1941, aged 29, and is buried at Twynllanan Methodist Chapelyard. Morgan is also commemorated on the Gosen Chapel Memorial.
Frederick Norman Jackson, Sergeant, 972564, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Norman was born in 1917, the son of Albert Frederick and Elsie Clara Jackson, of Llangadog. He was educated at Llandovery Grammar School. At the outbreak of war he enlisted into the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. After training as a Wireless Operator/ Air Gunner, he was posted to 10 Squadron, RAF, which was equipped with Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bombers by the outbreak of the Second World War. On 16 April 1941, Norman was aboard Whitley Mk V, Serial Z6557, which took off from RAF Leeming in Yorkshire, bound for Bremen, Germany, as part of a force of 107 heavy bombers. At around 22.40 that night, the Whitworth crashed into the sea near the Dutch Coast, killing all of her crew. Norman was 23 years old, and is buried alongside his former crew-men at Sage War Cemetery, Germany. His younger brother Keith was killed in Palestine in 1947.
Gwynne Keith Jackson, Trooper, 19066756, Royal Armoured Corps. Keith was born on 11 July 1928, the son of Albert Frederick and Elsie Clara Jackson, of Llangadog. He was too young to have served during the war, but enlisted into the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards, which was an armoured reconnaissance unit. The 4th/7th Dragoons had served at Dunkirk in 1940, then in North Africa and Italy. It was then brought back to Britain, and took part in the Normandy Landings in June 1944. The regiment ended the war in Bremerhaven, and a year later was deployed to Palestine for a tour of duty lasting from 1946-1948. Gwyn served in Palestine, but became ill and died after a long spell in hospital in Jerusalem on 18 September 1947, aged 19. He is buried at Ramleh War Cemetery, Israel. Keith doesn’t appear to be commemorated locally, although his brother Norman is.
William Ronald Perkins, Sapper, 14374282, Royal Engineers. William was the son of John Alister Perkins and Sarah Perkins, of Llwyncelyn, Llangadog. He married Hannah Mary Walters at Carmarthen in 1935 and the couple lived in Llangadog. William served in the Royal Engineers, in the 703rd Artisan Works Company. The Company was formed from men with experience of road building, and were used for the building of airfields and roads for the British Forces. William died near Bromsgrove on 8 November 1945, aged 36, and is buried at Llangadog Church Cemetery.
David John Wood, Stoker 1st Class, D/KX 137365, Royal Navy. David was born on 25 September 1922, the son of William and Edith E. Wood, of Llangadog. He served in the Royal Navy aboard H.M. Submarine P. 64 ‘Vandal’. Vandal had joined the Third Submarine Flotilla in Holy Loch, Scotland, when she left her anchorage on 24 February 1943 to undergo a three-day trial. Vandal mysteriously disappeared together with her crew of 37 men while on the first day of her trials, and was not seen again until her wreck was discovered in 1994 off the coast of Arran. David died in the sinking of the Vandal on 24 February 1943. He was 20 years old, and is remembered on the Plymouth Naval Memorial, Devon. During 1997 a memorial to those lost aboard HMS Vandal was erected beside the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry terminal at Lochranza Pier, Isle of Arran.
