There are many war memorials around Wales which are located in Chapels, some of which which are now closed. In recent years the details from several of these local memorials: at Ponterwyd Chapel; Ebenezer Chapel, Ystumtuen; and at St. John’s Church, Ysybyty Cynfyn, have been merged onto one war memorial, which also commemorates the life of a local servicewoman who passed away in 2011. The names on the memorial are laid out in order of date fell, not alphabetically as most other memorials are, and omit one man who was living at Ponterwyd prior to the Great War. I have listed them all alphabetically.

The Great War, 1914-1918

Joel Griffiths, Private, 54228, Durham Light Infantry. Joel was the son of John and Mary Griffiths, Lluest Goch, Ystumten. He had enlisted at Aberystwyth into the Welsh Regiment in 1914, but a few months later was posted to the 20th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry, which landed at Le Havre on 5 May 1916 attached to 123 Brigade, 41st Division. The Division moved to positions around Ploegsteert and the Douve valley, south of Ypres. They remained here until August 1916, when they moved to the Somme, and took part in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. The Division remained in the line, pushing on to Courcelette over the next few days before coming out for a rest and re-fit. They then fought at the Battle of Le Transloy, before moving to positions south of Ypres in 1917, where they took part in the Battle of Messines. Joel was killed in action while the battalion was readying for the next phase of the offensive, on 27 July 1917. He had become the third man from the village to be killed, all three of whom are commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium.

William Edward Houlbrook, Corporal, 9395, East Yorkshire Regiment.  William was born on 30 October 1891, the son of Walter and Emily Houlbrook of Batley, Yorkshire. A career soldier, he had been in the army for eight years previous to the Great War, and first came to the Ystumtuen area with the 1st Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment for summer camp.  It was then that he met his wife Elizabeth Ellen of Ystumtuen whom he married at Beverley Minster. At the outbreak of war, the 1st Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment was at York, attached to 18 Brigade, 6th Division, and landed with the Division at St. Nazaire on 10 September 1914. The Division moved to join the BEF in Flanders, where it took part in the Action of Hooge during June 1915. On 26 November 1915 the 1st East Yorks transferred to 64 Brigade, 21st Division at Armentieres. The Division fought throughout the Somme campaign of 1916, capturing Gueudecourt before taking part in the Battle of Le Transloy. In March 1917 they followed the German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line, and in April fought at Arras. Later in 1917 they were moved to Ypres, and took part in the Battle of Polygon Wood, the Battle of Broodseinde and the Second Battle of Passchendaele. William was killed action here on 27 October 1917, aged 25, and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium.

Emlyn Mason Jones, Gunner, 102654, Royal Garrison Artillery. Emlyn was the son of Edward and Laura Louisa Jones, of Gwynfa, Ponterwyd. Emlyn enlisted at Aberystwyth on 8 December 1915 into the Royal Artillery, and on 12 August 1916 was posted to the 236th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, landing in France on 30 January 1917. The battery moved to positions near Ypres, where it supported the Allied assault on the Passchendaele Ridge from 31 July 1917 onwards. Emlyn was killed in action at Ypres on 22 December 1917. He was 21 years old, and is buried at Klein-Vierstraat British Cemetery, Belgium. His brother Iorwerth also fell. He was described as a man of unblemished character and his senior officer, Major Colman, wrote to his parents to say; “The loss to me is great, for he was one of those remaining who had shared all the discomforts of the twelve months we have spent overseas together.”

Iorwerth Mason Jones, Ordinary Seaman, J/85359, Royal Navy. Iorwerth was born on 5 July 1888, the son of Edward and Laura Louisa Jones, of Gwynfa, Ponterwyd. He married Mary Myfanwy Morris on 15 November 1916, and the couple resided at Pengraig, Capel Bangor. He entered the Royal Navy in March 1918 having been in the employ of his father throughout the war, as the postmaster at Penllwyn Post Office. Iorwerth was posted to HMS Vivid, the Royal Naval establishment at Portsmouth. Iorwerth died from disease at East Stonehouse, Devon on 20 March 1918, aged 29, and is buried at Penllwyn Calvinistic Methodist Chapelyard.

Thomas Lemuel Jones, Private, 15211, Grenadier Guards.  Lemuel was the son of Thomas and Anne Jane Jones of Nanybyr, Ystumtuen. He was a Policeman in Cardiff prior to the war, and enlisted into the Grenadier Guards. Lemuel was posted to France on 14 August 1914 with the 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, which was attached to 4th (Guards) Brigade, 2nd Division. They moved to Belgium, where they fought at the Battle of Mons, and retreating southwards, fought at the Affair of Landrecies, the Rearguard Actions of Villers-Cotterets, and at the Battle of the Marne where the German offensive was stopped. The Germans retreated north, and the BEF met them, fighting at the Battle of the Aisne. The 2nd Division were then moved to Flanders, where they fought at the First Battle of Ypres, when the German sweep through Flanders was stopped. Lemuel was killed in action at Ypres on 10 November 1914.  His body was not recovered from the battlefield and his name is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium. (The Menin Gate Memorial is incorrectly inscribed as T.S. Jones).

Richard Owen Margetts, Private, 536470, Royal Army Medical Corps. Richard was the son of James and Harriet Margetts, of Coombe, Oxfordshire. He had lived at Ponterwyd prior to the war, but returned to London to enlist at Chelsea into the 2nd London Sanitary Company, Royal Army Medical Corps. Richard joined the unit in France at some time after 1916. He was killed in action at Ypres on 5 August 1917, aged 23, and is buried in Brandhoek New Military Cemetery, Belgium. Richard does not appear to be commemorated anywhere locally.

Richard Clement Richards, Private, 93541, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Richard was born in 1892, the son of Richard and Elizabeth Richards, of Cwmrheidol. He was called to the colours in February 1918, but appealed on the grounds that he was a lead miner and had worked throughout the war at Fort Mine, Ystumtuen. In April he was informed his appeal was refused and Richard was posted to France, where he joined the 13th Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers. The battalion was on the Somme, attached to 113 Brigade, 38th (Welsh) Division. On 21 August 1918 the 38th Division launched an attack across the River Ancre, and within days had captured the heights of Thiepval Ridge and Pozières Ridge. The Division then drove eastwards, towards Longueval, and after capturing Delville Wood, moved towards Morval. Richard was killed in action on 1 September 1918, during the assault on Morval village. He is buried in Morval British Cemetery, France. The cemetery is almost purely Welsh, apart from the grave of one German.

Josiah Williams, Private, 15132, Royal Welsh Fusiliers.  Josiah was the son of John and Mary Jane Williams of Lluest Park, Ystumtuen. He enlisted at Wrexham into the 10th Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, which had formed there on 16 September 1914, becoming attached to 76 Brigade, 25th Division. On 27 September 1915 Josiah landed at Boulogne with the battalion, who subsequently transferred with 76 Brigade to the 3rd Division, and over the coming weeks participated in heavy fighting. The Brigade joined the Division at Bellewaarde, where it had been for several months. On 2 March 1916 the Division attacked the German positions at The Bluff, and over the day suffered heavy casualties. The following morning, the Germans bombarded the captured positions, and the 10th RWF suffered terribly. Josiah was killed in action here, on 3 March 1916. He was 22 years old, and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium.

World War Two, 1939-1945

Harold Teify Jones, Lance Corporal, 6139353, East Surrey Regiment. Harold, known as Teify, was born in 1912, the son of Isaac Jones and Emily Jones, of Tegfan, Ponterwyd. He had enlisted into the army in 1940 and by the time that war was declared upon Germany was serving with the 1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment. Teify had spent the first eight years with the Battalion in India, then in 1938 the Battalion moved to the Sudan, where a number of men of the Battalion became employed as extras in the filming of The Four Feathers. The Battalion returned to England in February 1939, as part of the 11th Infantry Brigade, 4th Infantry Division and was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in October and over the coming months prepared for a possible German invasion of France and the Low Countries. Teify came home on leave from France for the last time in February 1940, spending a few days with his parents before returning to the front. Early on 10 May 1940 the Germans began their invasion and quickly broke the French lines, forcing the BEF to withdraw to avoid becoming surrounded, and began their fighting retreat towards Dunkirk. Teify was killed in action during the retreat to Dunkirk, on 21 May 1940. He was 28 years old and is buried in Heverlee War Cemetery, Belgium.

Ivor Martin Kendall, Aircraftman 2nd Class, 1470879, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Ivor was born on 27 April 1922, the son of Ivor James Kendall and Sarah Kendall (nee Powell), of Erwyd View, Ponterwyd. He worked as a bus conductor for the Crosville Bus Company at Aberystwyth prior to enlisting into the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and was posted to RAF Halton, in Buckinghamshire. Ivor was about to come home for his first leave since joining the forces, when he suddenly became ill, and died of pneumonia at Halton on 10 January 1942. The body of the 19-year-old was brought home and he was buried with full military honours, including members of the local Home Guard and Royal Observer Corps, in St. John’s Churchyard, Yspytty Cynfyn on the following day. Tragically one of his brothers, John, who was in the cortege, died two years afterwards.

John Gilbert Kendall, Air Observer, Royal Observer Corps. John was born on 24 March 1924, the son of Ivor James Kendall and Sarah Kendall (nee Powell), of Erwyd View, Ponterwyd. He worked as an assistant in a grocery shop, before enlisting into the Royal Observer Corps, a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain, which operated from look-out posts scattered all around the country. John attended the funeral of his elder brother Ivor on 11 January 1942, but tragically two years later, almost to the day, on 12 January 1944, died aged 19. John was buried in St. John’s Churchyard, Yspytty Cynfyn. He is not commemorated as an official war casualty.

Tegwyn Mason Lewis, Lance Corporal, 14531306, Reconnaissance Corps. Tegwyn was born in 1921, the son of John Lewis and Elizabeth Lewis (nee Davies), of Brynchwith, Ponterwyd. He enlisted into the army after the outbreak of war and became posted to “C” Squadron, 52nd (Lowland) Reconnaissance Regiment, which was attached to the 52nd (Lowland) Division. The Division spent most of the war in Britain, training for a possible invasion of Norway, but became converted to and airlanding unit, becoming transferred to the First Allied Airborne Army. The Division remained unused throughout the Normandy campaign, however it was transferred to Belgium via sea landing in Ostend during the first week of October 1944, to take part in an amphibious attack across the Leopold Canal as part of the First Canadian Army, in conjunction with Operation Market Garden, the attempt to force the Rhine Crossing at Arnhem. The division’s first operation was to take part in the assault to open the vital Belgian port of Antwerp, in the Battle of the Scheldt, with amphibious landings to capture South Beveland and the island of Walcheren to open the mouth of the Scheldt Estuary. Tegwyn was killed in action during the heavy fighting here on 25 October 1944. The 23-year-old was originally buried in Maldegem Canadian Temporary Burial Ground, then in July 1945 the burials in the cemetery were exhumed and re-interred into Adegem Canadian War Cemetery near Antwerp, Belgium. Tegwyn is buried beside two of his comrades in “C” Squadron killed on the same day; Troopers Frederick Heath and Charles James Purser. Tegwyn is also commemorated on his parents headstone at Ponterwyd.

Daniel Arllwyd Richards, Fusilier, 14308360, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regt). Daniel was born on 13 January 1924, the son of Enos Brinley Richards and Annie Letitia Richards (nee Williams), of Bwlch-y-Brynau, Ystumtuen. He enlisted into the army and was posted to the 9th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, a Territorial Army unit, which was attached to the 167th Infantry Brigade, 56th (London) Infantry Division. The Division spent the early part of the war on home defence duties, then in June 1942 received orders to prepare for overseas service, embarking in August for Iraq via Bombay. By the time the division arrived in Basra, any threat to Iraq from Germany had gone, so after several months training in the Kirkuk area, the division moved to Tunisia via Palestine, seeing its first action at Enfidaville on 9 May 1943, just days before the surrender of the Afrika Korps. The Division then began to prepare for the amphibious landings on Italy, becoming attached to 10 Corps, 5th US Army for Operation Avalanche, the landing at Salerno. The 9th Battalion Royal Fusiliers became part of the first wave that landed at Salerno on 9 September 1943, before advancing inland and occupied Battipaglia the following day, before suffering terribly during a German counter-attack which retook the town. The battalion then received large numbers of reinforcements, probably Daniel amongst them, before taking part in the advance to the Volturno  and then on towards the Bernhardt  Line, including the second battle of Monte Camino. Daniel was killed in Italy just after this period, being reported as wounded and missing on 19 December 1943. No trace of the 19-year-old was ever found, so he is commemorated on the Cassino Memorial, Italy.

Post WW2

Sandra Evans, Staff Sergeant, W1030816, Royal Corps of Signals. Sandra was born on 25 November 1972. She enlisted into the Royal Corps of Signals and by 2011 had reached the rank of Staff Sergeant. She passed away on 1 April 2011, aged 38 and is buried in Ponterwyd Chapelyard.