Eglwyswrw War Memorial

The pretty village of Eglwyswrw lies in the north of Pembrokeshire, in the Hundred of Cemais. Originally only three men from the village were commemorated, on a small war memorial plaque which is located inside St Cristiolus Church, as most of the local men are commemorated on the war memorial at Crymych. However, Eglwyswrw and District Heritage Society decided to research and undertake a project to erect a new war memorial in the village to commemorate all of their local men together, with the help of my research. This project finally came into fruition during June 2014, with the erection of a new war memorial outside the Church, which was unveiled by myself and dedicated by the Bishop of St. David’s on Sunday 10 August 2014. Many thanks to Paul Sambrook of Eglwyswrw for supplying the photographs of the grave of Joshua James, and the photograph of Oliver Rees, to Heather James for some of the photographs of the men, and to Will Thomas, of Eglwyswrw Heritage, who kindly kept me updated with details of the names of the men, with information about the project and for inviting me to carry out the unveiling. Following further research by myself since the unveiling, a further four men have been discovered who were from the area and fell as a result of the war. A new addition to the memorial has recently been unveiled with the names of these four men on: Morris Bowen; Thomas Bowen; Tom  Sallis; and Fred Waller. Please see below for details.

The Great War, 1914-1918

Morris Bowen, Stoker 1st Class, DEV/K/11695, Royal Navy. Morris was born on 22 January 1893, the son of William and Rachel Bowen, of Tycanol, Blaen-Y-ffos. He enlisted into the Royal Navy on 13 July 1911 and trained at HMS Vivid II before being posted aboard HMS Halcyon. Morris served aboard a number of ships over the coming years, and was aboard HMS Diana when war erupted. After several other postings he spent six months at HMS Idaho at Milford Haven before eventually joining the crew of the battlecruiser HMS Tiger. Morris survived the war but his health had begun to suffer and he took ill whilst still serving aboard Tiger. He returned home and died of tuberculosis on 27 May 1920, aged 26. Morris is buried in Blaen-Y-Ffos Baptist Chapelyard. His brother Thomas died a year earlier. Both brothers names have been added to the recently installed addition to the war memorial, following further research.

Thomas Bowen, Leading Stoker, K/11639 (DEV), Royal Navy. Thomas was born on 28 September 1890, the son of William and Rachel Bowen, of Tycanol, Blaen-Y-ffos. He enlisted into the Royal Navy on 20 June 1911 and trained at HMS Vivid II before being posted aboard HMS Active. Thomas served aboard a variety of ships over the coming years and like his brother Morris also spent six months at HMS Idaho at Milford Haven, before he eventually joined the crew of the light cruiser HMS Cairo. He took ill while Cairo was stationed at Hong Kong after the war and died in Hong Kong Military Hospital on 15 April 1921, aged 30. He is buried in Hong Kong Cemetery, China. His brother Morris died a year later. Both brothers names have been added to the recently installed addition to the war memorial, following further research.

Evan Owen Davies, Corporal, 30370, Middlesex Regiment. Evan was born in Eglwyswrw, and was raised by his grandparents, William and Phoebe Evans, at Palle, Eglwyswrw. He had trained as a pharmacist in London, and enlisted there into the Middlesex Regiment, with the Army Number 156. He transferred into the 46th Company, Machine Gun Corps, which was created by Royal Warrant, on 14 October 1915. Evan’s Company became attached to the 15th (Scottish) Division from 11 February 1916 onwards. The Division fought in the latter stages of the Somme Battles of 1916, and were in the middle of the Battle of Le Transloy when Evan was killed in Action, on 13 October 1916, aged 28. His body was lost on the Somme Battlefield, and so he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France.

David Griffith Edwards, Lance Corporal, 39954, East Lancashire Regiment. David was the son of William and Ann Edwards, of New Inn, Blaenffos. He worked as a shop assistant prior to enlisting at Cardigan into the Army Service Corps, with the Service Number T/4/145707. He later transferred into the 2/5th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, which was attached to 126 Brigade, 42nd (East Lancs.) Division. On 6 May 1915 the Division landed at Cape Helles, Gallipoli, where they fought until evacuation in January 1916. They then spent twelve months in Egypt, and were moved to the Western Front in February 1917, taking over the line near Épehy then Havrincourt. In September they moved north to Ypres, where they fought through Third Ypres, until moving to the Coast in September to refit. November 1917 saw them moving to positions at Givenchy, where they remained until moving back south in early 1918. Here they faced the German Spring Offensive of 21 March 1918 on the Somme, and saw heavy fighting. David was killed in action during the Battle of Bapaume on 24 March 1918, aged 22 (SDGW shows 31 March). He has no known grave, and is commemorated on the Pozières Memorial, France.

David Emrys George, Greaser, 912812, Mercantile Marine Reserve. Emrys was born in Laugharne in 1898, the son of Frank and Martha George. The family had moved to Pantyderi Mill, Blaenffos prior to 1911. Emrys served in the Mercantile Marine, aboard the River Class destroyer, HMS Derwent, which had been built by Hawthorn Leslie and launched in 1904. After commissioning she was initially attached to the East Coast Destroyer Flotilla, based at Harwich. By the time of the war, Derwent had joined the 9th Destroyer Flotilla, at Chatham, and was deployed on anti-submarine and counter-mine patrols. On 2 May 1917 she was working off the French coast, when she struck a mine which had been laid by the German submarine UC-26, and sank off Le Havre with the loss of 58 officers and men. Emrys was just 18 years old when he drowned that day, and is commemorated on the Plymouth Naval Memorial, Devon.

John Ladd, Private, 203599, Yorkshire Regiment. John was born at St. Dogmaels in 1878, the son of William and Phoebe Ladd. Prior to the war his family had moved to The Mount, Eglwyswrw, while John resided at 194, Ystrad Road, Pentre with his wife Edith Ann Ladd, and their four children. He enlisted at Pentre, Glamorgan, into the 2/4th Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, which had been formed on 4 September 1914 for Home Service. On 1 March 1916 they were attached to 189 Brigade, 63rd (Royal Naval) Division, and were transferred on 9 November 1916 to 220 Brigade, 73rd Division. The Division remained on Home Service, and John died of peritonitis at Pontypridd on 16 April 1917, aged 39, without having seen active service. He is buried at Rhondda (Treorchy) Cemetery.

Walter Charles Little, Private, 320352, Welsh Regiment. Walter was the son of Walter and Mary Ann Little, of Springfield, Essex. After his father’s death in 1900, his mother remarried, moving to 3, Badeley Square, New Street, Chelmsford. Walter moved to West Wales and worked as a farm servant at Glandwr, Nevern prior to the war. He enlisted at Carmarthen into the Pembroke Yeomanry, with the Service Number 4688. The Pembroke Yeomanry formed at Tenby during August, 1914 as part of the South Wales Mounted Brigade, 1st Mounted Division. In 1916 they were sent to Egypt and guarded the Suez Canal Defences, but early in 1917 was disbanded, with the Battalion merging with the Glamorgan Yeomanry to form the 24th Battalion, Welsh Regiment, attached to 231 Brigade, 74th (Yeomanry) Division. The Division had formed in Egypt in January 1917 and had fought through the Palestinian Campaign, at the Battles of Gaza and the Battle and capture of Jerusalem. Due to the terrible casualties suffered by the British on the Western Front in March and April 1918 the Division was recalled to the Western Front, and arrived at Marseilles during May 1918. It fought at the Second Battle of Bapaume during the great offensive, and fought in Flanders before returning to the Somme and fighting at the Battle of Épehy, as part of the offensive towards the Hindenburg Line. Walter was wounded here, and evacuated to the Casualty Clearing Station at Doingt, where he sadly died of his wounds on 21 September 1918, aged 24. He is buried at Doingt Communal Cemetery Extension, France.

John Herbert Lloyd, Private, 38519, Gloucestershire Regiment. John was born at Eglwyswrw, the son of David and Elizabeth Lloyd, of Rofftcharles. He enlisted at Carmarthen, originally serving with the South Wales Borderers, but was transferred to the 8th Battalion, the Gloucestershire Regiment, which formed part of the 57th Brigade of the 19th (Western) Division. The 19th Division fought at Loos and the Somme, and then moved to Flanders, where they fought in the Battle of Passchendaele. It was on the opening day of the Battle of the Menin Road that John was Killed in Action, aged just 19. He is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Belgium.

Idris Mathias, Rifleman, R/37992, King’s Royal Rifle Corps. Idris was born at Eglwyswrw in 1881, the son of David Mathias and Lydia Mathias (nee Thomas). Just after the turn of the century, he left the village to find work in Cardiff as a Draper’s Assistant, and in 1905 he married Hannah Howells, of Carmarthen. The couple settled at 29, Evansfield Road, Llandaff, where their two children, Winifred and David, were born. Hannah sadly died on 17 February 1913, and the following year Idris remarried to Anna Patricia Johnstone. Idris enlisted at Cardiff at some time in 1916 and after completing his training was drafted to France later that summer, joining the 13th Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps, which was attached to 111 Brigade, 37th Division. The division had been on the Western Front since July 1915 and had taken part in its first major action during the diversionary attack on the Gommecourt Salient on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, on 1 July 1916. Two of the Division’s infantry Brigades, the 111th and the 112th, and the Divisional pioneers were then attached to the 34th Division, which had suffered very heavy losses in the attack on La Boiselle in the opening phase of the Somme battle, between 6 July and 22 August 1916. These brigades then saw further fighting before rejoining the 37th Division in time to take part in the Battle of the Ancre. The division transferred to the Arras Sector the following spring and took part in the First Battle of the Scarpe, capturing the village of Monchy le Preux. After further fighting during the Second Battle of the Scarpe, and the Battle of Arleux, the division was withdrawn from the Arras Sector in May 1917 and transferred north to the Ypres Salient, taking over positions near Wytschaete by the end of the month. After two weeks in the line there, the 13th KRRC was relieved and moved to Bailleul, to undergo a training regime, in preparation for the forthcoming Passchendaele offensive. On 26 July the battalion received sudden warning to move back to Wytschaete and relieved 63 Brigade in the line at Derry House. The battalion then spent two days carrying out carrying work, prior to launching a large scale trench raid against the Germans on the night of 28/29 July. At 03.40 on the morning of 29 July 1917 an artillery barrage opened up along the German lines, and the two parties, consisting of 47 men led by an officer, climbed out of their trenches, crossing No Man’s Land. Both parties soon came under heavy rifle and grenade fire, but nonetheless reached their objectives and gained a lot of intelligence, before returning to their own lines. Idris was among seven casualties suffered during the raid, being killed sometime during the morning of 29 July 1917. The 36-year-old has no known grave and is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres.

James Mathias, Sapper, 151206, Royal Engineers. James was born in Eglwyswrw in about 1881, the son of George and Rebecca Mathias. He married Octavia Morris Johns at Cardigan on 15 December 1907, and the couple set up home at Boncath. Prior to the war the family moved to 5, Dogbrook Terrace, Ammanford, where James found work as a coalminer. He enlisted there into the 15th Battalion, Welsh Regiment, which was known as the Carmarthen Pals Battalion, and was attached to 114 Brigade, 38th (Welsh) Division. He landed in France with the battalion on 5 December 1915, but was then attached to the Royal Engineers as a tunnellers mate. At the end of 1916 he joined the 170th Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers, then on 1 February 1917 was posted to the 255th Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers. The 255th Company was used at Vimy, to dig the Grange Subway, and constructing underground water reservoirs near Souchez. They were moved to Givenchy in late 1917, and then in April 1918 were in Flanders when the great German Offensive began. They were urgently sent to help consolidate Front Line trenches to try and stem the German advances, and it was during this maelstrom that James was mortally wounded. He died of his wounds in the Hospital at Lijssenthoek, west of Ypres, on 31 May 1918. The 37-year-old is buried in Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium.

John Owens, Private, 7/45055, South Wales Borderers. John was born at Eglwyswrw in 1897, the son of Thomas and Ellen Owens. At some time after 1901 the family had moved to Rock Cottage, Pantygrwndy Fach, near Cardigan. John worked as a farm labourer at Eglwyswrw before enlisting at Carmarthen into the Welsh Regiment. He then spent some time with the Leinster Regiment before being posted to the 7th Battalion, South Wales Borderers, which was attached to 67 Brigade, 22nd Division. John joined the battalion in Salonika. He was killed in action during the Battle of Doiran on 18 September 1918, aged 21. John is buried in Doiran Military Cemetery, Salonika.

Stephen George Peregrine, Private, 70205, Machine Gun Corps. Stephen was born in Meline, Pembrokeshire in 1878, the son of Stephen George Peregrine and Maria Peregrine. By 1904 he was residing at Brynamman, and that year married Margaret Hopkins, of 22, Park Road, Brynamman. Stephen enlisted at Brynamman into the 9th Battalion, Welsh Regiment on 26 May 1915. He joined the battalion in France later that year, as part of a number of reinforcements after the Battle of Loos, and was transferred into the 58th Company, Machine Gun Corps upon the organisation of the MGC in 1916. The 58th Company was attached to the 19th (Western) Division, and Stephen would have served through the Battles of the Somme in 1916. The division fought at Messines, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle and Passchendaele during Third Ypres, and gained itself a reputation as a fine fighting force. During the winter of 1917-1918 the division was stationed near Bapaume, and was hit by the German offensive on 21 March 1918. The Division suffered heavily during the first few days of the attack, and Stephen was Killed in Action during the defence of Beugny, on 26 March 1918, aged 39. He is buried at Delsaux Farm Cemetery, Beugny, France.

Haydn Phillips, Private, 29933, South Wales Borderers. Haydn was the son of John and Mary Phillips, of Shop Issaf, Eglwyswrw. He enlisted at Porth, into the South Wales Borderers, and was posted to France early in 1916, joining the 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers, which had moved to France in March 1916 from Egypt, with 87 Brigade, 29th Division. The Battalion had fought at Tsingtao, China, and had taken part in the Gallipoli campaign, landing at Cape Helles on 25 April 1915. The battalion saw heavy losses on 1 July 1916 at Beaumont Hamel, and after rebuilding strength, saw heavy fighting on the Somme in 1916. During 1917 the battalion fought at, Passchendaele and Cambrai, but at some time during the fighting in France, Haydn took ill, and was shipped back to Hospital in the UK. He died in hospital at Whitechapel, London on 18 March 1918, aged 21, and is buried in Pontyglazier (Bethabara) Baptist Chapelyard.

Thomas Sallis, Driver, T2/SR/01274, Army Service Corps. Thomas, known as Tom, was the son of John and Anne Sallis, of Eglwyswrw. He was working as a tailor at Penrhiwceiber prior to the war. Tom enlisted into the Army Service Corps on 6 October 1914 and served in France from 15 January 1915. Tom took ill during the summer of 1917 and was discharged from the army as medically unfit on 9 October 1917. He returned home to Eglwyswrw where he died of tuberculosis on 20 July 1919, aged 25 and was buried in Bethabara Chapelyard, Pontyglasier. He is at present a ‘Forgotten Soldier’ who is not currently commemorated by the CWGC, but following further research I have presented evidence to them in order to gain his official commemoration, and his name has also recently been added to the new addition to the Eglwyswrw Memorial.

David Thomas, Sapper, 448274, Royal Engineers. David was born at Eglwyswrw in 1887, the son of Thomas and Ellen Thomas. The family moved to 102, Sandy Road, Llanelli prior to 1911. David married Agnes Thomas in 1908, and the couple resided at 9, Marine Street, Llanelli. He enlisted at Llanelli into the Royal Engineers, and served with the 436th Field Company. David was killed in action during the Battle of Nabi Samweil on 26 November 1917, aged 30, and is remembered on the Jerusalem Memorial, Israel.

Simon Thomas, Sapper, 82332, Royal Engineers. Simon was the son of Daniel and Mary Thomas, of Pontsaeson, Eglwyswrw. He was living at Neath by 1901, and had married Blodwen Rowlands at Glynneath in 1902, the couple later having two children. Simon enlisted at Neath into the Royal Engineers. He was posted to the 124th Field Company, attached to the 38th (Welsh) Division. Simon landed in France with his unit on 3 December 1915, and moved with the Division to the Fleurbaix sector, near Armentieres. This was known as the ‘Nursery Sector’, which was a quieter sector of the Western Front, used for blooding new troops into trench warfare. Although quieter, it was far from safe, and Simon was killed in action here on 3 April 1916, aged 39. He has no known grave, and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, France.

Fred Waller, Private, 2522, Welsh Regiment. Fred was born in London in around 1897, the son of Emily Caroline Waller. He had moved to Eglwyswrw to work at Pencelly Farm by 1911 and enlisted at Cardigan soon after the outbreak of war, joining the 4th Battalion, Welsh Regiment. He was posted to the Mediterranean with the 1st/4th Welsh in June 1915 and landed with the battalion at Gallipoli on 7 August 1915, attached to 159 Brigade, 53rd (Welsh) Division. The division was ordered to move forwards and disappeared ‘into the bush’ but quickly became disorganised due to a lack of maps red was killed in action here on 10 August 1915, aged 18. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Gallipoli. Following further research, Fred’s name has been added to the new extension to the Eglwyswrw memorial.

Bryn Gwynne Williams, Private, 67515, Cheshire Regiment. Bryn was the son of John and Mary Williams, of Deri House, Eglwyswrw. He worked as a Bank Clerk, and was living at 105, Priory Street, Carmarthen by 1917. He enlisted at Carmarthen into the Welsh Regiment on 10 September 1917. Bryn was then posted to the 48th Training Battalion, and on 3 April 1918 was posted to France, joining the 9th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment, which was attached to 56 Brigade, 19th (Western) Division. The Division was in Flanders, rebuilding from its mauling on the Somme, following the German offensive which began on 21 March 1918. It had then been sent to Messines, to rebuild, but was caught up in the German attack at Messines, which was launched on 7 April 1918 by the Germans. Bryn by now had become dangerously ill, and had been evacuated to the Base Hospital at Etaples for treatment. He sadly died there of pneumonia on 23 April 1918, aged 18. He is buried at Étaples Military Cemetery, France.

World War Two, 1939-1945