Brynteg School Debt of Honour - formerly Bridgend Grammar School

Bridgend, Mid-Glamorgan, South Wales, UK.

Brynteg School, Bridgend 2002 The following records have been taken from the book Debt of Honour written by Philip Tapper and records pupils who died in the service of their country from the Schools Roll of Honour. Brynteg Comprehensive School, one of the twin descendants of Bridgend Intermediate School and the County Schools for Boys and Girls.

Although this site is dedicated to those who served in the battlefields of Flanders we feel that we must list all those in the ‘Debt of Honour’ to show respect for the day they gave to us.

We thank Mr. Tapper for his work and permission in granting us to reproduce his work.

                        ‘ They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.
                            Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
                             At the going down of the sun and in the morning
                                               We will remember them ‘.

 
                                  Laurence Robert Binyon 1869-1943

FLANDERS     World War I

Private Howard Jenkins of the Welsh Regiment died on the 31st July 1917 during the third battle of Ypres (Ieper) (Passendale), and hence in the same action as the bard Hedd Wyn.  In the summer of 1917 a million British , Canadian, Australian and New Zealand troops were gathered in the Ypres Salient,  mostly inexperienced young men, who fought the battle eventually to be know as Passchendaele.  One historian recently described this action as ‘an icon of futility’.  It is a sobering thought that of the 800,000 British dead of the Great War, one quarter are buried or remembered within a few miles of the town Ypres. Howard Jenkins’ corpse was never found and his name is on the Menin Gate.  He was a well known jockey in civilian life, and his family lived on Newcastle Hill (Bridgend).  His brother Harold had won the Military Medal while serving with the Royal Engineers, and was killed in April, 1917, while both his father and another brother also served in the army, and fortunately survived the war.

. Sadly the gate could not accommodate all the numbers of the fallen without a known grave and at the Commonwealth War Graves largest cemetery in the World – Tyne Cot,

The Menin Gate was built was built to respect and immortalize the names of men who had fallen in the Salient in World War I with no known grave.  It is one of the main entrances to the city of Ieper (Ypres)  and today still remains British territory it closes to traffic each night at 8.00p.m. for the buglers of the Ieper Fire Brigade to sound the last post. The gate contains the names of 54,856 British and Empire soldiers it was inaugurated in July 1927 and this ceremony was witnessed by the poet Siegfried Sasson (1886-1967)  He had been a gallant and decorated soldier with Royal Welsh Fusiliers, he revolted against the slaughter of the war and wrote the following angry poem :       Who will remember, passing through this Gate       The unheroic dead who fed the guns ?      Who shall absolve the foulness of their fate, -      Those doomed, conscripted, unvictorious ones ?      Crudely renewed, the Salient holds its own      Paid are its dim defenders by this pomp ;      Paid, with a pile of peace-complacent stone,      The armies who endured the sullen swap.      Here was the world’s worst wound.  And here with pride     ‘  Their name liveth for ever’ the Gateway claims.      As there intolerably nameless names ?      Well might the Dear who struggled in the slime      Rise and deride the sepulcher of crime. the village of Passchendaele a wall was built at the rear of cemetery which bears more than 35,000 names of soldiers than fell – this number continues to be added to.

Air Mechanic Ivor Morgan died of influenza at the age of 20 towards the end of the war in November 1918.  He was a wireless operator with 10 Squadron, and came originally from Pyle.  He was one of eight children, and prior to joining up had worked on the family farm (Marlas Farm).  Family tradition says that the telegram announcing his death arrived as the church bells were tolling for the Armistice on the 11th of November 1918.  Ivor Morgan is buried at Kezelberg Military Cemetery, Wevelglem, Belgium and there are memorials to him in both Maudlam and Pyle Churches.  In his letters home he wrote about the death of his friend in his letters home he wrote about the death of his friend Will David, ruefully commenting that ‘it’s all in this great game’. He also said that the locals were ‘giving we lot a bon time, as the know what life was before’.  In his last letter, written on the 22nd of October Ivor describes himself as ‘faring top-hole’.  Two weeks later he was dead. Top right : Kezelberg Cenetery ; Bottom Left: Maudlam Church Bottom Right : St. James Church, Pyle

Buglards of the Ieper (Ypres) Fire Brigade sound the last post every night at 8.00pm. The Gate is British Territory and the local Police Force have no jurisdiction to arrest anyone there, they have to go to the British Consulate for assistance. The Police stop the traffic at 8.00p.m. every night of year for the remembrance service to take place. Regardless of the weather or the time of the year there are always pilgrims paying respect to the fallen. They gave their today -                for our to-morrow

Gunner William Phillips was born at Pantrosla, near Court Colman and on leaving school began to train as a pharmaceutical chemist with Jones & Lewis in Caroline St. Bridgend.  Perhaps it was this that led him to become an orderly at the Welsh Hospital at Netley on the Solent.  All wounded soldiers from France were initially taken to Southampton, before being sent to various hospitals.  By 1917 however Will had transferred to the Royal Field Artillery, and was killed on the 27th April, 1917.  His grave is to be found at Lijssenthoek military cemetery at Poperinge, Belgium. Lijssenthoek Military Cemetry - Poperinge

Captain John B. Randall of the Royal Army Medical Corps died at the age of 28 on the 31st of October 1817.  His unit was attached to the 82nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery during the battle of Passchendaele.  He was the younger son of Dr Wyndham Randall, the Medical Officer to Bridgend & Penybont District Councils.  He was popular and a brilliant scholar with a distinguished record already behind him – B.Sc. MRCS. MB. MS and the position of house physician at St. George’s Hospital, London.  Had he survived the war contemporaries saw him as a future leader of his profession.  John Randall was buried at Vlamertinghe Cemetery. Left : Vlamertinghe Cemetery - Flanders

Corporal J Trevor Williams of the South Wales Borderers came from Ogmore Vale and died in August 1917, during Third Battle battle of Ypres - Passchendaele. He was in the second battalion, and had served during the Dublin Riots the year before.  Trevor Williams was 20 years of age and his memorial is to be found at Tyne Cot, Belgium.

Tyne Cot Cemetry - Passendale - the World's largest Commonwealth Cemetery        South Wales              Borderers Cap Badge Worcestershire Regiment & South Wales Borderes Monument - Gulevedd

Somme  & Northern France  World War I Y Ddraig Goch - The Welsh Dragon Gaurding her fallen heros at Mametz Woods, Somme, Northern France.   In Memory of all the Welsh that fought at died.

Lieutenant Richard  Evans of the Royal Welch Fusiliers died at the age of 23 in May 1917 during the battle of Arras, after two months active service.  He was shot by a sniper in the village of Bullecourt, which had been captured after heavy losses.  The British action was part of an overall offensive planned by the French General Robert Nivelle.  Though Arras went quite well b the standards of the First World War, the overall attack failed badly, leading to a large scale mutiny in the French army which was only crushed by Nivelle’s replacement. Philippe Petain . Richard Evans was an Arts graduate of U.C.W. Aberystwyth, and came originally from Nantymoel. The school magazine described him as an earnest student and continued that ‘the more one knew of him, the more one liked him for his was a sweet though retiring disposition ‘ Richard Evans was buried at St Laurent-Blangley, north east of Arras. Top Right : St. Laurent-Blangley Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery France Bottom Rigt :  Nantymoel - South Wales

Private Harold Hare came originally from Ogmore Vale and joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers.  He was only 20 years of age, and had previously run a business in High St. Ogmore Vale.  His brother was serving in the Royal Field Artillery when Harold was killed in April 1917 during the second battle of the Scarpe, one of 133 casualties out of a trench strength of 350 in the battalion.  Harold Hare is buried at Wancourt, near Arras.

Left : Wancourt   British Cemetery, France         Below :  Royal Welsh Fusiliers Monument

Llangenior Church

St. Omer Commonwealth Cemetery

Corporal D Idloes Jones of Llangenior was a member of the Royal Engineers when he died in May 1916 and the age of 33.  He had been one the earliest pupils in school and later the first to return as a teacher specializing in science, and eventually becoming senior master.  Though not a robust man, he volunteered in 1914 and died of wounds.  He is buried at St. Omer, which was the headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force for part of the war.  A memorial service was held at school, and one friend quoted from a last letter that said : ‘Never mind, when I come back to you I will try harder than ever to make the boys happy’.

Sergeant Ben Jones of the Gloucestershire Regiment was killed by a sniper at the front on the 16th June 1916, during the battle of the Somme.  He was a former pupil of the school, and also a master.  Ben is buried at Pont-Du-Hem Military Cemetery, La Gorgue, Nord.       Right :  Pont-Du-Hem Military Cemetery

Left     - monument Thiepval, Some France Below - Aberystwyth University

Lieutenant Herbert Kelsey of the Middlesex Regiment died in February 1917 at the age of 25.  He was from Coychurch and had studied at University College, Aberystwyth.  The school magazine reports that wounded himself, he rescued ‘a brother officer and friend’ and though advised to seek shelter, tried to drag him into a shell hole, and in the process was shot through the lungs.  His body was never recovered and he is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.  In peacetime Herbert had been a schoolmaster in Surrey, and his three brothers also served in the army.

Private David McLellan originally joined the 7th Hussars, but transferred to the Highland Light Infantry.  He died on the 25th of September 1915, the first day of the three-week battle of Loos that was to cost the army over 50,000 casualties.  It was undertaken to support the French attacks on Vimy Ridge, and saw the first battle experience for some units of Kitchener’s Army, the volunteers of the first few months of war.  Of the action in which he died, the Unit War Diary records that ‘ About two companies have gone forward.          They have not returned and nothing can be seen of them from the from the front line nor have any reports been sent in ‘ David was 32 years o age and had been one of the very early entrants into the school, and captain of the rugby team in 1899.  He lived at Court Street in central Bridgend, worked as a plumber, and was a very popular member of the Bridgend Wednesday's rugby team.  His sister kept a shop in Bridgend for many years after his death.  David McLellan’s name is to be on the Loos Memorial.

Loos Memorial Wall - Dud Corner Cemetery - France

Private Effie Morgan’s of Osborne Terrace, Nantymoel was pursuing his studies at U C Cardiff before joining the infantry element of the Honorable Artillery Company in London.  He was a very popular and friendly individual and eventually was place in charge of Lewis Gun section.  He was killed at the age of 21 on the 13th November 1916, towards the end of the Somme offensive.  Effie’s memorial is to be found at Beaumont Hamel.   Right : Monument at Beaumont Hamel, Somme (the site includes preserve trenches)

Air Mechanic Emrys Pearce died eleven days after Armistice on the 22nd of November 1918.  He came from Pencoed and was the youngest of four children.  Emrys was a member of 4 squadron RAF, but attached to the Royal Garrison Artillery in a liaison role.  He was also victim of the influenza pandemic that swept the world at the end and in the immediate aftermath of World War I and was buried at Tourcoing, Near Lille. Emrys had left school, and seeking employment traveled to first South Africa and then Australia before returning to volunteer for active service.  He is remembered for his fine tenor voice ad his devotion to Salem Chapel.  Emrys Pearce’s great nephew C B E Lewis was to be a most distinguished master in school from the 1970s to the 1990s.   Picture :  Tourcoing (Pont Neuville) Communal Cemetery                 Northern France

Corporal Layton Pritchard of Brynmenyn died towards the end of the war, on the 18th September 1918, having enlisted in the Public School Battalion in 1914.  He was serving in the Welch Regiment, and 27years of age.  There are memorials to him in Llangeinor churchyard, and at Vis-en-Artois in the Pas de Calais.

Sergeant Evan Rogers of the 12th Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps (now part of the Royal Green Jackets) died of wounds in September 1915, during the battle of Loos.  His unit had gone to France in July and the War Diary records that it was in the front line trenches near Laventie when an attack failed and the Germans responded with heavy shell and machine gun fire.  Evan Rogers was 25years of age, came originally from Aberkenfig, and is buried at Merville.

Second Lieutenant Horace Wyndham Thomas of the Rifle Brigade was the son of the rector of Bettws (St. David’s Church, Bettws, Bridgend) and his wife, and had by the age of 26 achieved a great deal.  He had taken his degree in History at King’s College Cambridge, after winning a choral scholarship, won a Blue at rugby, and played for the university second team at cricket as well as performing for the dramatic society, and being an outstanding athlete.  He also won two caps for Wales at outside half playing for both Blackheath and Barbarians before going to Calcutta to work for three years.  His replacement in the Welsh team was also from School.  Clem Lewis (1890-1944) played for Wales before and after the warm winning 11 caps and captaining his country twice.

Wyndham Thomas was captain of the Calcutta Football Club, whose funds were to provide the silver for Calcutta Cup when it was dissolved in 1920, and was remembered for beautiful singing voice.  He volunteered in 1916 and died in September on the Somme.  His body was not recovered, and he is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial, and at St David’s Church, Bettws.

His family shows a commitment to the war that was common – his sister Rosalind served as a burse, one brother John was invalided out of the Army in 1915 after two serious wounds and died in 1920 from their effects, while his other brother Morgan served in the Royal Engineers and won the Military Cross.

In his last letter home, Wyndham Thomas wrote :
          ‘ Without wishing to be dramatic or boastful, I can say,
truthfully that I am not afraid of death, my life has been
a happy one – thanks to you all from the bottom of my heart. ‘

Private Thomas D Williams of the Royal Army Medical Corps was serving with the 131st Field Ambulance unit when he was killed in July 1916, during the battle of the Somme, while tending the wounded under heavy fire.  He was originally from Coity, and had worked as a stoker at Parc Hospital.  His Sergeant Major wrote to Thomas’ parents, saying ‘ it may comfort you to know that from the nature of his wounds must have died at once, and without pain…. When all are heroes it is not well to make exceptions, but your boy was as good as the best… I write as a plain solider, and hope that when my times comes I may die as nobly as your lad ‘. Thomas Williams died a few days before his twenty-first birthday, and was buried in Carnoy Military Cemetery.

Eastern Europe    World War I

Lieutenant Trevor Jones of the Welsh Regiment, 11th Battalion, ‘The Cardiff Pals’ died on the 18th September 1918.  He was a native of Porthcawl and was killed in action against German and Bulgarian forces on the Doiran Heights, when very strong enemy positions were stormed.  Both sides in the war had attempted to get the neutral countries of the Balkans to join them, and conducted what amounted to an auction promising other people’s land if they would.  Bulgaria eventually joined the Central Powers in 1915 and helped to tie down nearly 250,000 Allied troops for the remainder of the war.  Trevor Jones was buried at Doiran, close to the border between Greece and what was until recently, Yugoslavia.

Middle East    World War I

Corporal Arthur Llewellyn Jones, a member of the 1/3d Welsh Field Ambulance Unit, Royal Army Medical Corps was serving with the Middlesex Regiment when he died in May 1917.  He was from Pontycymmer, and had served his apprenticeship as an ironmonger before volunteering and serving abroad for two years.  Arthur was at Suvla Bay in the Gallipol campaign, later served in Egypt, and was killed in Gaza in Palestine where he is buried.

Gallipoli   World War I

Able Seaman D J Phillips – ‘ Jim ‘ was a native of Pontycymmer, who entered school in January 1899.  By 1914 he had achieved success and was assistant county surveyor for West Suffolk.  He joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve late in 1914 and in 1915 was sent as part of Hawke Battalion of the Royal Naval Division to Gallipoli.  This was part of the Allied attempt to force entry into the Black Sea to join up with the Russians, take Turkey out of the war, and relieve the stalemate already there on the Western Front.  After initial success, this campaign fell into a similar standoff.  Field Marshal Kitchener visited the expedition and on his advice , the area was evacuated, much as Dunkirk was to be in 1940.  It was this disaster that added to the call for a national government to run the war, and led to the removal of Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty.  In the campaign, the poet Rupert Brooke also died.

Phillips was slightly injured early in the campaign, and a few days after returning to duty, was resting.  On the other side of the trench, a comrade was cleaning and reloading his rifle when he accidentally shot Jim dead.  Jim Phillips died in September 195 at the age of 28, and is remembered on the Helles Memorial.  The man responsible for the ‘friendly fire’ shooting was himself killed in France in 1918.

Africa  World War I

Private Thomas Powell of the Royal Fusiliers is buried in Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania, a casualty of the campaign to capture what was German East Africa in 1916.  He was 30 years of age and his parent lived in West House, Bridgend.  He had sold fruit in a shop in Wyndham Street, and in February 1915 had joined the legion of frontiersmen of the 25th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.  Tom had played rugby for Bridgend Wednesdays and traveled a great deal to place as far a field as South Africa, Russia, and Australia.

Ireland    World War I

Signaler Cecil Russell was a member of the Royal Naval Reserve when he was killed in May 1917, at the age of 25.  His ship, a trawler HMS Ina Williams, hit a mine off Bull Light, close to the naval base at Berehaven, near Cork in Ireland.  His memorial is at Plymouth.

Victims of World War I

Corporal Thomas John Evans of the Glamorgan Yeomanry died in Aldeburgh in Suffolk on the 15th of March 1917.  He was the son of the headmaster of Coity School, only 19 years of age, and playing in a rugby match for his unit.  An observer saw Tom fall over the touch line after a tackle while flat out, breaking his neck.  His comment was ‘it was such a simple fall and he was not caught roughly at all’ .  Previously Tom had been a bank clerk in Bridgend and children from his father’s school carried flowers to his burial in Coity Churchyard.

Irish Easter Risings

Private Moy James from Caerau was the son of the under-manager of the local colliery, and had enlisted in the Glamorgan Yeomanry, a volunteer cavalry force.  He was killed by a sniper in a Dublin street during what the second magazine described as the ‘Irish Rebellion’ of 1916, that is the Easter Rising.  A group of Irish nationalists who wanted independence from the United Kingdom, seized public buildings in the centre of Dublin, notably the Post Office, and had to be removed by the army.  One hundred British soldiers and 450 Irish people died in the fighting that followed, some of the latter shot in cold blood.  After the rebellion, fourteen of its leaders were executed by firing squad, and Eamonn de Valera, later Prime Minister and President of Eire, was only spared because of his American passport.  One thousand other nationalists were imprisoned.

The school magazine comments on Moy’s extreme youth – just 18 – and the fact that because if thus, he was due to be returned to civilian life.  One Easter Monday his company came under fire, and Moy was hit in the chest ad died three hours later.  His father attempted to claim his body, but arrived too late and so Moy was in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.  The cemetery also contains the remain of the Nationalist leaders Charles Stewart Parnell, Michael Collins and Eamonn de Valera.

A Mystery of World War I

The mystery of Jack Howells on the board in the Upper School Hall, the name of Jack Howells stands fourteenth in the list of men honoured ‘pro patria mori’, and has presented perhaps the biggest problem of identification.  His regiment is given, on the honours board, as the Second Hussars.  The School Magazine records that a Mr John Howells had by December 1914 joined the 11th Hussars, while it records the death of Private Jack Howells, of the Royal Engineers, in December 1917.

The second Hussars do not exist, and no such regiment has ever existed.  The Eleventh Hussars (Prince Albert’s Own) has its headquarters in Winchester, and supplied details of a J.P.Howells who had a most distinguished record – two horses killed under him during the retreat from Mons in 1914, the Distinguished Conduct Medal, a commission into another regiment, then the Military Cross and promotion to Captain.  Unfortunately, for our purposes, he had joined the regiment in 1912, and survived the war.  Not him.

The Royal Engineers offered us four Welsh soldiers called Howells who died in World War I.  One was too old to be our man at 39, two were killed in 1916 and 1918 respectively while the last was called Sidney Randolph Howells, and cam from Barry.  Unlikely.

What are we left with ?

William John Howells, Private of the 17th Battalion, Welsh Regiment who died at the age of 28 in November 1917 from Nantyffylon.

John Edwin Howells, second Lieutenant, Tank Corps who died in November 1917 at the age of 25.  Address of parents in Mountain Ash.

J. Howells, Private of the 10th Battalion, South Wales Borderers, who died in August 1917.  Born in Maesteg.

WORLD WAR II

Flight Sergeant Colin Barrow of 218 Squadron RAF was serving as a wireless operator/air gunner in a Stirling bomber.  He was from Aberkenfig and he died on the 21st of August 1942 at the ages of 22.  His aircraft was laying anti-shipping mines in the Baltic, a task known as ‘Gardening’ which was usually fairly safe until the target was reached.  The mines were substantial – about 0feet long and weighing some 3,000lbs.  The aircraft crashed at Hoffnungstal Mariental, and Colin Barrow’s grave is to be found at Keil in Germany.

Guardsman Richard Bartlett known as ‘Dick’, was from South Cornelly, and after leaving school worked as a quarryman.  He played rugby for Kenfig Hill, and was an only child.  Dick joined the Welsh Guards in January 1940 at the age of 22, and in May was sent to help in the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force with a mixed party of Welsh and Irish Guards.  While assisting in the evacuation of Boulogne he was captured and taken to Stalag 344 in Poland.  After over four years in captivity Dick died in the camp hospital on the 27th November 1944, probably from tuberculosis which was rife in the camp.  He was buried in Lamsdorf Military Cemetery.

Able Seaman Barrington Brown known to all as ‘Barry’ or ‘Avocado’ died of exposure at the age of 19 on the 20th of March 1945, just six weeks before the war ended.  After school he worked briefly in a tax office, but soon joined the Royal Navy.  He was an Able Seaman on the sloop HMS Lapwing which was sunk by U-968 under the command of Oberleutnant Otto Westphalen off Kola inlet, North Russia.  The sloop was part of the escort of convoy JW 65 which consisted of 24 merchants ships on the very dangerous Artic convoy route to Russia.  This U-boat was responsible for sinking five ships in its career, including three naval vessels, the Lapwing and an American destroyer on the same day.  One of Barry’s friends remembers him being involved in a minor chemistry laboratory explosion in 1939 as part of a practical joke, typical of someone who was always a happy character.  He also played rugby in the first XV and was a member of the ATC, and his photograph, in his sister’s opinion, is the only one ever taken when Barry was not smiling.

Telegraphist Edward Daley came from Aberkenfig, and was a member of the crew of the cruiser HMS Orion.  He died on the 29th of May 1941, along with over 100 of his shipmates, during the British evacuation of Crete.  The island was attacked by German forces, including the first mass paratroop landing, and the cruiser was the subject of near misses and finally direct hits from enemy aircraft which caused serious structural damage.  The ship was out of action for over eight months.  Shortly before, the Orion had taken part in the action at Cape Matapan than decisively defeated the Italian navy.  

Trooper Lewis Davies came from Penprisk, Pencoed and was in the 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) which was part of the Royal Armoured Corps.  Close to his family home was a quarry that supplied much of the stone for what is today Brynteg Upper School.  He was one of four brothers who served in the war and after duty in the North African campaign, Sicily and Italy, was killed in Normandy shortly after D-Day.  His company was in action near Cheux fighting German forces supported by Tiger tanks in a crowded and confused battlefield.  Lewis was one of 13 men in the united killed that day.  One leave just before the invasion, he told his brother that he did not expect to survive.  Lewis Davies died at the age of 27 on the 28th June 1944, and is buried in St Manvieu War Cemetery, Cheux, Calvados.

Sergeant William Price Davies of Maudlam died on the 26th May 1943.  He served as a pilot in a Halifax of 51 Squadron which was attacking targets in Dusseldorf.  He too is buried in Uden War Cemetery in the Netherlands.

Flight Sergeant Anthony Dearman of Penyfai died whilst serving with 53 Squadron Coastal Command on the 4th of October 1943.  He was the wireless operator/air gunner on a Liberator bomber on patrol that signaled that it was under attack by enemy aircraft.  He was 23years of age and his name is on the RAF Memorial, Runnymede. (Panel 136)

Stoker Charles Dredge of the Royal Navy was from Maudlam.  He died on the 7th of September 1944 at the age of 27 when HMS LST (Landing Ship Tank) 420 was mined off Ostend.  These diesel driven vessels were 300 feet in length, and could carry over 2,000 tons of cargo in their cavernous interiors.  Their shall draft enabled the LST to run right up to a beach, and unload through the large doors and ramp in its bow.  Its low speed and lack of maneuverability caused many sailors to state that LST stood for ‘large stationary target’.  The ship was involved in the attack on the island of Walcharen by the Royal Marine Special Service Brigade.

Flight Sergeant James Dewdney died in the latter stages of the war, aged 20.  He was a native of Aberkenfig and served as a navigator with 207 Squadron, which flew Lancaster’s.  He lost his life in an attack on Bohlen, Germany on the21st of March 1945.  Hi memorial is again at Runnymede/  (Panel 274)

Sergeant Radcliffe Evans of 191 Railway Operating Company, Royal Engineers, came originally from Pyle.  He died in Calcutta on the 25th of June 1943 at the age of 30.

Flying Officer Ieuan Evans known in school as ‘Tim’ from his initials was the son of a local bank manager, and is remembered by a friend as being quiet , studious, and very intelligent. He became a medical student in Cardiff and while at university joined the air training corps and subsequently trained in South Africa as a pilot.  Tim joined 578 Squadron, RAF and died on the 18th of November 1944 at the age of 23, on his eleventh mission.  He was flying a Halifax bomber, and on returning from a raid on Munster, his already damaged aircraft collide with another Halifax and crashed.  He as buried at Selby, Yorkshire, and remembered in York Minster and at University College, Cardiff.  His sister remembers him as a wonderful elder brother, with considerable practical skills, and one of group friend including, Ronald Miller, Vernon Sparkes and David Welbury who were all to die in the war.

Lance Sergeant Richard S.Evans was a member of the Welsh Guards and died in September 1944 in Belgium.  His parents had farmed at West Plas in Coity, and when they moved he lived with his grandfather in Caeffatri House.  After working as a salesman, he joined the Welsh Guards in 1937, and after basic training was posted to the 1st Battalion.  They were sent to Gibraltar before war broke out, and in November 1939 became part of the BEF in France.  After the German invasion the Guards took part in the evacuation from Dunkirk, and returned to Britain.  The battalion returned to France soon after D-Day in 1944 and fought their way to Brussels which was liberated in September.  Shortly afterwards, Richard Evans was killed in action at Leopoldsburg where he is buried.  His name was added to the honours board in School in the year 2000. 

Sergeant Justyn Grabham of 21 squadron RAF died on the 11th of February, 1942, and his memorial is to be found in Malta.  He had volunteered in 1940, leaving his job as an insurance agent.  At Christmas 1941 he was recalled from leave and sent to Malta as a wireless operator/air gunner on a Blenheim bomber.

Returning from an anti-shipping patrol, his aircraft was intercepted by enemy fighters and shot down into the sea off Malta.  He was 26 years of age, and friends in school remembered him as a lively and engaging character, with cery red hair and considerable athletic ability.  He won the Victor Lundorum in the County School Sports on two occasions, despite strong opposition.  Justyn was from Cribbwr, one of six children, and his school nick-name was ‘Ginger Curly’ as he had a younger brother with equally red, but straight hair.

Sergeant Maldwyn Griffiths was serving with 58 Squadron RAF when he died on the 27th September 1943, and his memorial is at Runnymede (Panel 151)  He was wireless operator/air gunner in a Halifax number that failed to return from a patrol over the sea.  Maldwyn was 26 years of age and came from Aberkenfig and his younger brother Myfyn was also to die in the war, as a private on the Welch Regiment in February 1945.

Able Seaman Charles Haines of Llanharan died by drowning while serving aboard the sloop HMS Wellington on the 20th of January 1941 at the early age of 20.  He is buried in Llanharan.  The ship served throughout the war, taking part in the evacuation of British forces from France in 1940, escorting many convoys and taking part in the rescue of large number of passengers and crew from torpedoed ships.  HMS Wellington is one of the ships preserved in London, moored at the Victoria Embankment, serving as headquarters of the Honorable Company of Mariners.

Lance Corporal Spencer Harding of the King’s Own Royal Regiment died on the 13th of November 1943 at the age of 26.  He was from Cefn Cribbwr and had joined the South Wales Borderers, transferring to the K.O.R.R. in 1942.  After action in the Western Desert, Spencer Harding’s battalion took part in the invasion of the Greek island of Leros, one of the Dodecanese.  This was part of a plan of Churchill’s that did not fit into the overall Allied plan, and led to a strong German response.  An invasion fleet and paratroop drop followed, and there was very confused and bitter hand-to-hand fighting in which Spencer Harding was fatally wounded.  With no air cover, the British troops held out for several days, but then had to surrender.  Spencer Harding was eventually buried in Phaleron War Cemetery in Athens.

Gunner Gilbert Hawkins of the Royal Artillery, came originally from Porthcawl.  He died on the 25th of July 1940 at the age of 22.  His searchlight unit was part of the BEF in France, and when the German breakthrough came, were put to hold the perimeter around the port of Calais, to allow the evacuation to take place.  The unit’s War Diary records the complete confusion of the time, with retreating units of the British and French armies, plus civilians thronging the roads.  No up-to-date information was available to them except what was obtained from the ‘wireless news’.  Gilbert Hawkins was captured and died of his wounds in Stalag XXIB at Schubin.  He is buried in Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery, as are the Allied officer murdered on Hitler’s order after the ‘Great Escape’.

Sergeant Eric Hardee of 196 Squadron RAF died on the 27th of April 1943.  His Wellington bomber was taking part in a raid on Duisberg, Germany.  A night fighter shot his aircraft down, and he was buried in Poederoilen Protestand Cemetery in the Netherlands.  His family kept the café at Ogmore by Sea, and came from Porthcawl.

Sergeant Stanley Harrison of Nolton Street, Bridgend was the flight engineer on a Lancaster bomber of 625 Squadron RAF.  He died at the age of 21 on the 30th January 1944 during one of the many raids on Berlin carried out by Bomber Command.  He was one of 33 aircraft lost on this raid and Stanley Harrison is buried in Berlin War Cemetery.

Leading Aircraftman John Howe known as ‘Ossie’, of 48 Squadron RAF died in Scotland of hear trouble on the 26th of February 1942 and is buried in Bridgend Cemetery.

Staff Sergeant William R. Howe known probably inevitably as ‘Taffy’ was in the Glider Pilot Regiment of the Army Air Corps.  He was born in Heol-y-Cyw, played rugby for the local side, and is remembered as a very strong and intelligent individual who always stood up for himself.  The regiment he joined in the arm needed such qualities, being what one general called ‘Total Soldiers’, having flown the glider in, they would then pick up their rifle.  He flew Horsa gliders, which had a wingspan of 88 feet, an length of 67 feet, and were made almost entirely from 3-ply wood.  Fully laden they weighed some 15,250lbs- about 6.8 tons- and sank at about 400 feet a minute.  On D-Day William Howe’s wing was part of the plan to neutralize a battery of German guns overlooking one of the landing beaches, and also capture vital bridges inland.  On the flight to Normandy his glider was hit by German ant-aircraft fire, and eventually the tow rope was either released by the towing aircraft, or broke under the strain.  The glider ditched in the sea, and Staff Sergeant Howe was killed by enemy machine-gun fire.  Bill is buried in Ranville War Cemetery, Calvados.  He was 28 years of age.

First Radio Officer Maldwyn Humphreys was one of the crew of the SS Hallfried, a Norwegian ship torpedoed in the middle of the North Atlantic on the very dangerous convoy route from America to Britain.  His ship was sunk by U-262 while part of convoy SL 138 on the 31st of October 1943, Maldwyn was 22 years of age and came from Ewenny Road, Bridgend.  His memorial is to found on Tower Hill, London.

Pilot Officer Ronald James of 177 Squadron RAF was the navigator of a Baufighter flighter/bomber reported missing on the 17th of October 1944, near Chirings Airfield, India.  The aircraft disappeared soon after taking off on an anti-shipping strike.  He had worked in the Midland Bank in Bridgend after leaving school, and volunteered in 1941.  He died at the age of 24, and sadly his pilot was his Canadian brother-in-law.

Trooper Kenneth James came from Kenfig Hill, and became a regular soldier before war broke out, joining the army soon after leaving school.  He is remembered as very outgoing, confident and clever and after service in the King’s Own Hussars in North Africa was killed in Italy while a trooper in the Tank Corps of the Eight Army in June 19944 at the age of 25.  The fighting in the Tiber valley was especially bitter, and the squadron had to contend with mined tracks, deep ravines and blown bridges.  The Germans had reinforced Citta di Castello, a walled medieval town, and there was no way ahead except the main road which ran round the walls.  In the fighting that followed two of the squadron’s Sherman tanks were destroyed, and Kenneth James and another NCO killed, and then other men wounded.  The town was finally captured four days later after an infantry attack.  He is buried in Bolsen War Cemetery in northern Italy.  Kenneth was the eldest of four brother who served in the forces in World War II.

Sergeant Douglas Johnson came from Llandow where his mother ran the village shop, and his father worked on the railways.  He was an only child and joined the RAF as a pilot, training in Canada.  He died in November 1940 when a Wellington bomber on a training flight over the North Sea suffered engine failure and had ditched in bad weather seventy miles east of Aberdeen.  His memorial is at Runnymede (Panel 16)

Flight Sergeant John Anthony Jones of 83 Squadron RAF was the navigator of a Lancaster bomber shot down on the 23rd of May 1944.  He was from Aberkenfig, where his father was the local photographer.  He had reading for an Arts degree at U.C. Aberystwyth, and is remembered as an intellectual who loved poetry and music.  His squadron was attacking the German city of Dortmund when he died aged 23.  He is buried at Emmen in the Netherlands.

Sergeant Desmond Joshua died on the 7th February 1944.  He was part of a conversion unit, adapting to a new aircraft when his Halifax bomber crashed near Cheadle in Staffordshire.  He had the dual role of wireless operator and air gunner, was aged 22, and came from Tondu where is parent kept the local post office.  Ann estimated 600 mourners attended Desmond’s funeral in Sarn Cemetery.

Sergeant Brynley Lewis was a flight engineer with 97 Squadron RAF, flying Lancaster’s, when he was killed in June 1943 at the age of 23.  His parents came from Barry and his mother had come to work at Merthy Mawr Home Farm.  He had been a member of a distinguished first XV, and is remembered as a ‘fine strapping lad’  He left to work at Board’s Garage in central Bridgend.  His aircraft was lost in an attack on Cologne and Brynley is buried in Heverlee War Cemetery, Belgium.  His elder brother also perished in the war.

Sergeant Gwyn Loveluck of 83 Squadron RAF died on the 26th October 1940.  He was the pilot of a Hampden bomber which was on a mission to mine the Gironde river estuary in recently occupied France.  The bomber was shot down by a night fighter near Liege, and no trace ever found.  Gwyn was a pre-war airman who had left school to join the RAF technical college, and is remembered as returning with a much-envied M.G. sport car.  One contemporary described him as being ‘a good steady chap to be with’ who joined in every activity.  Gwyn’s memorial is at Runnymead (Panel 16)

Guardsman John Martin known as ‘Jack’ came from Coity and started in school in September 1937 .  He left to work at Parc Hospital, before joining the army in January 1943 as a member of the Welsh Guards.  His unit was part of the follow up to the initial D-Day landings in the summer of 1944, and he was killed in action on the 4th of August.  Jack was buried in the Bayeux Commonwealth War Cemetery.

Sapper Emrys Matthews of 143 Field Park Squadron, Royal Engineers died on the 19th of August 1944, during a period of stubborn German resistance after D-Day.  He is buried in La Delivrande War Cemetery, Douvres, Calvados, France.

Sergeant Ronald Miller was the son of the manager of Star Supply Stores in Bridgend and after school took a first class degree at U.C.W. Aberystwyth.  When he joined the army initially it was a member of the Royal Artillery, but after service in Beirut with a coastal defence unit, he joined the Special Air Service in its very early days and made a number of landing in France.  He is remembered as a quiet and reserved man, blessed with great intelligence and determination.  He was a talented musician, but also one of the fine rugby forwards the school was fortunate to have in the years just before 1939.

Just after D-Day it was decided to set up a base, code named Houndsworth, to the west of Dijon in the Northern France in a hilly, densely wooded area known as the Morvan.  The intention was to harass German lines of communication, cut railways and help the local resistance fighters in their activities.  On the night of the 16th of June, Ronald Miller’s aircraft with its SAS group of 16 disappeared on the way to drop area, and no trace was ever found.  Their memorial is at Bayeux.

Sister Mary Morgan of Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service died on the 13th of June 1944 in Benares, India.  She was from Sunnyside, the daughter f David and Annie Morgan.  Mary trained at the Central London Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital and died at the age of 29.  At home she was known as ‘Big Mary’ to differentiate her from a younger neighbor.  Mary is buried in Bhowanipore Cemetery, Calcutta and remembered in the Tabernacle Chapel, Bridgend.

Flight Sergeant Hadyn Morgan of 464 Squadron was one of four children of the caretaker of Porthcawl School and his wife.  At school he was a diligent and intelligent student who did very well academically, and obtained and envied position in County Hall, Cardiff.  He volunteered for the RAF in 1940, and after initial training, became a Leading Aircraftsman armourer, based in Egypt.  Haydn then volunteered to retrain as a navigator which he undertook in South Africa.  He then served on photo-reconnaissance missions flying Blenheims, before transferring to an elite Mosquito squadron.  On his last leave, Haydn told his father that he did not expect to survive, and that, given the low-level flying, Mosquito crews did not bother to carry parachutes. 

After D-Day, Mosquito’s were used to harass enemy communications, and also attack V1 launch sites in Northern France.  On the 22nd of June 1944 his aircraft crashed and exploded in a cornfield at Creil, near Paris, where Haydn and his pilot are buried.  One of his brothers, Wyndham, was a paratrooper in the 6th Airborne Division, and served in Normandy, the Ardennes, and the Rhine Crossings.  Later he volunteered to serve against the Japanese, and finally in Palestine in 1948.

Able Seaman Josiah Morgan of Laleston died when HMS Fleur de Lys, a corvette, was torpedoed west of Gibraltar on the 4th October 1941.  He was 23 years of age and his memorial is in Casablanca, Morocco.  This sup was part of the escort of convoy OG 75.  The submarine U-206 that sunk the corvette was reported lost a month later, probably the victim of a minefield laid by RAF aircraft in Bay of Biscay.  All of her crew of 46 were lost.

Captain Lesile Owen was an outstanding sportsman who had the distinction of captaining the school at both rugby and cricket in 1936.  The son of a policeman in Aberkenfig, he is remembered as a born leader with a great deal of energy.  A fine rugby centre, he turned down the offer of a schoolboy trial for Wales as a flanker, and also played cricket for the Glamorgan County Colts.  After training as a teacher, he worked as a book-keeper during the construction of the arsenal at Bridgend before joining the army.  Following service as a physical training instructor, he joined the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, rising to the rank of captain.  After the heavy fighting near Caen in Normandy his unit took part in the invasion of Germany, and Leslie was killed by a shell.  He is buried in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.  One contemporary on school described him as an outstand personality and said that he was very highly regarded whilst in the army.  The same man had the melancholy duty of escorting his body back to base.  Leslie Owen was one of four brothers who all served in the armed forces.  His three brothers all joined the R.A.F., and one, Wyndham, was to reach the rank of Squadron Leader flying Halifax bombers.  His aircraft was shot down over Dresden in 1943, and Wyndham spent two years in a prisoner of war camp.

Sergeant Manuel Treharne (‘Jack’) Perkins of Porthcawl died on the 5th of August 1943.  He was the son of the headmaster of Maesteg Junior School, and bomb aimer on a Wellington of 142 Squadron RAF, when his aircraft was lost during the Sicilian operations, over the Messina beaches.  He was a fine rugby forward in the excellent 1937-38 school team that averaged over 20 points a game.  Jack’s memorial is to be found on the island of Malta.

Able Seaman Michael Thomas served in the Merchant Navy aboard the SS Lancastrian Prince and died on the 11th of April 1943, when his ship which was part of convoy ON 176 was torpedoed by U-404 north east of Newfoundland.  The commander of the submarine was Otto von Bulow, responsible for sinking 15 Allied ships.  The U-boat was sunk in July 1943 by aircraft in the Bay of Biscay.
Michael’s parents lived in Porthcawl and his memorial is on Tower Hill, London.

Lance Corporal Thomas Perrett of the Monmouthshire Regiment, South Wales Borderers, died in August 1944 at the age of 19.  He cam from Sarn, and was a very good athlete.  His father had won the Welsh Powderhall sprint, and Tom was Welsh schools cross-country champion in 1941, his last year in school, as well as playing for the first XV.  He became an engineering apprentice at the arsenal in Bridgend before volunteering for the army.  He was killed in the fighting after D-Day during the capture of the town of Leffard, south of Caen, just before the Allied breakout towards the Seine. His brother Gordon served in the Parachute Regiment, and was captured shortly afterwards at Arnhem and posted as ‘missing believed killed’ for some months before the Red Cross announced his survival.  Tom’s mother, who was in charge of the canteen facilities at the Royal ordnance Factory in Bridgend, having previously held a similar post at School, visited his grave every year until her death.  Tom is buried at Banneville La Campagne War Cemetery, Calvados.

Sergeant Gerald Prichard (spelt Pritchard on the honours board) came from Wick.  His mother died in the influenza pandemic at the end of the First World War, and his father took the family to Canada to farm near Edmonton, Alberta.  After about two years the family returned to Glamorgan and while and elder brother attended Cowbridge Grammar School, Gerald came to Bridgend County School.  He is remembered as a steady hard-working, and very popular pupil, who played as flank forward in the first XV in 1936-37.  He left school to join the architects’ department of Bridgend Urban District Council, but joined the Royal Artillery in 1940.  He soon transferred to the RAF, and was sent back to Canada to train.  He died in September 1943 at the age of 25, when his Beaufighter crashed in Ayrshire on a training flight.  One of his crew was due to married the following week.  Gerald Prichard was buried in Monknash Churchyard.

Obituary Airman’s Funeral
On Monday week, the funeral took place at Monknash of Sergt.-Pilot John Gerald Prichard, R.A.F., younger son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Prichard late of Greenisha Farm, Wick, who was recently killed on ative service.  The later Sergt.-Pilot Prichard was an old o fof Wick and Monknash School, and of the Bridgend Mining and Technical Institute.  The Rev. D.J. Arthur (Vicar of Monknash) officiated, assisted by Rev. D.M. Williams (Curate of Wick).  The deceased airman was buried with full military honours, R.A.F. Sergeants acting as bearers, while a firing party and trumpeters attended from a R.A.F. station.

The late Sergt.Prichard, well-known for his genial disposition, was very popular in the area.  And a large number of friends attended the funeral to pay their last tribute.

Among the principal mourners were:  Mr. and Mrs. W. Prichard (father and step-mother), Mr. and Mrs. D. Prichard, Greenisha, Wick 9brother and sister-in-law) Miss Marjorie Pruihard, Wick (sister)

Sergeant William Rees from Porthcawl was serving in 460 Squadron RAF and died in his Lancaster on the 3rd of July 1943 at the age of 20.  He was an air gunner and his aircraft was one of many attacking the city of Cologne, and it disappeared without trace.  His memorial is at Runnymede (Panel 289)

Gunner James Roberts of 240 Battery, 77th Heavy Anti Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery was a native of Heolycyw.  This regiment’s headquarters was in Cardiff and at the start of the war, it was defending the South Wales ports against enemy attack.  His unit was sent to Malaya in 1942, and most of its men were captured by the Japanese.  James Roberts died in Sumatra in August 1945, and his memorial is to be found in Djakarta, Indonesia.

Leading Aircraftsman John (Jack) Smart came from Cefn Cribbwr and is remembered as being ‘a real gentleman’ by a younger neighbor.  He was an only child and on leaving school eventually worked in Cardiff for the Milk Marketing Board.  He volunteered for the RAF early in the war, and went to France as one of the ground crew for the air support sent with the British Expeditionary Force.  After the successfully evacuation he was sent to the Far East and was captured by the Japanese.  Jack died on the 29th of November 1943 when a Japanese ship taking Allied prisoners from Java was sunk, probably by an American submarine.  Jack is remembered on the Singapore Memorial, and in Cefn Cribbwr Methodist Chapel.

Flying Officer Vernon Sparkes of 270 Squadron was the son of the headmaster of Laleston School, and had taken a degree in Hebrew and English at Cardiff.  He then began to train as a priest in Llandaff, but left to take part in the war, as his friends were doing.  After training in Florida and Canada on Catalina flying boats, he died on the 18th of December 1943 at the age of 25.  Vernon and his crew were aboard a Sunderland flying boat that failed to arrive in Gibraltar on a transit flight from Pembroke Dock.  The aircraft was reported lost off Cape St Vincent, and his memorial is at Runnymede.  (Panel 129)  A specially equipped Luftwaffe squadron had been sent to Southern France to disrupt Allied Air traffic over the Bay of Biscay.  Vernon was fated never to see his son, born two months later.  Contemporaries remember him as bright and adventurous, a most talented musician, and a most amusing companion.  Given his nature, one close friend in particular cannot understand how Vernon was not chosen as fighter pilot.

Sergeant Roy Spencer of 139 Squadron died at the age of 24 on the 7th of July 1941, which ironically was his birthday.  He was an only child from Laleston where his father was the local policeman and had taken a degree in History at University College Cardiff.  He was the navigator in a Blenheim bomber of 139 Squadron RAF which was shot down while on an anti-shipping operation.  He was a fine athlete and good musician and, as a rugby fullback, just failed to win a schoolboy cap.  Roy Spencer is buried in Terschelling in the Netherlands.  One contemporary described him as a ‘real live-wire’ and recalled that his school nick name was ‘Sticky’.  He was also Barry Brown’s cousin.

Sergeant Cyril Stephens of Pencoed and 23 Squadron RAF had joined the service before the outbreak of war, and died on the 8th of August 1940.  His Blenheim fell out of control on a night operation and crashed near Peterborough.  He is buried in Coychurch Churchyard.

Sergeant Elwyn Stockford known as ‘Boysie’, of 31 Squadron RAF died on the 30th of September 1944, on his first operational mission, and is buried at Bari in Italy.  He was aged 21 and originally came from Coity.  He was a good athlete who played for the first XV at 14, and also the first XI at cricket.  He was chosen to play rugby for Wales at under 15 level against England in 1937 along with Bleddyn Williams and Ken Jones and later played for Heol-y-Cyw before joining the RAF.  Elwyn Stockford was a wireless operator/air gunner in a Liberator bomber lost while undertaking and attack on a pontoon bridge at San Benedetto.  Three months after he was killed one of Elwyn’s sisters died of tuberculosis.

Lance Corporal Morgan Thomas (called William Thomas on the honours board) came from pontycymmer and was a member of the Welch Regiment in 1939, but transferred to the Leicestershire Regiment later in the war.  He was oart if the force that captured Arnhem in April 1945, and died in the advance towards The Hague.  The tank that he and his section were riding on was hit by a Panzerfaust (an infantry anti-tank weapon) near the town of Ede, Morgan was killed and ten other injured.  Morgan Thomas was 26 years of age and is buried at Ede.

Captain Jansen Williams was a doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps.  He died during heavy fighting on the Sangro River in Italy on the 4th of October 1943.  He had already amassed a formidable set of qualifications by the age of 25 M.A., M.B., B.Ch., LRCP, and MRCS, and was likely to be a a leading member of the medical profession in the years he was denied.  Very much like John Randall a generation earlier.  Jansen Williams’ grace is to be found in Sangro River War Cemetery.

Flight Sergeant Thomas Wilcox was with 514 Squadron RAF flying Lancaster’s and he died on the 13th of January 1945.  He was 25 years of age, from Porthcawl and was taking part in a raid on a benzol plant at Wanne-Eickel.  His memorial is to be found at Runnymede.  (Panel 273)

Sergeant Roy Williams of Bridgend was an early casualty of the war on the 24th of July 1941, at the age of 21.  He was a wireless operator/air gunner with 103 Squadron RAF which flew Wellington bombers, and was lost while attacking the port of Brest in western France which was being used extensively by the German Navy.  Roy’s memorial is at Runnymede (Panel 55)

Flight Sergeant Philip Yorath of 44 Squadron RAF, died on the 5th of October 1940 at the age of 24.  A pre-war airman he was a wireless operator/air gunner in a Hampden bomber which was lost without trace while laying mines in the Elbe estuary.  His memorial is at Runnymede (Panel 11)

Unsolved Cases

Lawrence Jones attended school for only one year, 1928-29, and no casualty of that name can be found who has obvious connection with the Bridgend area.  Two possible candidates are :
Pilot Officer Lawrence George Jones of 97 Squadron RAF who died in January 1944.  His Lancaster was taking part in a raid on Berlin and simply disappeared.  The crew are remembered at Runnymede (Panel 211)
Corporal Lawrence William Jones of the Durham Light Infant try, who was killed in April 1945 in northern Germany.  He is buried in Becklingen War Cemetery.

The name of Leslie Davies is listed out of alphabetical order on the honours board, and is not on the original list compiled in 1946 for the publication celebrating the fiftieth birthday of the school.  Research has identified some 85 men with the same initials who were killed in World War II, and about as many again with an additional first name.  Of these no certain identification could be made.  Three possible candidates, however, have a South Wales connection:
Leading Aircraftsman Leslie Douglas Davies was born in Cardiff in September 1918, and died in May 1940.  He was a member of the crew of a Fairey Battle light bomber shot down over enemy territory.
Sergeant Leslie Hugh Davies was born in Burry Port in March 1920.  He was in training as a wireless operator/air gunner when his Wellington crashed in September 1942.
Sergeant Leslie Stuart Davies was born in Treherbert in October 1912, and was a wireless operator/air gunner in a Catalina flying boat that went missing in September 1942. He was later buried in Antsiranana War Cemetery  in Madagascar. 

Ivor Ward was working for the N.A.A.F.I. when he died in a car crash in Norfolk in 1942.

Memorials

RAF personnel who have no known grave are remembered at Runnymede, near Windsor.  The impressive memorial there contains a large number of panels dedicated to the fallen and any visit is likely to reveal tributes ranging from single flowers to table decorations from a grand-daughter’s wedding.
 
Royal Navy casualties, with no know grave, are remembered in their home ports – Plymouth, Portsmouth, or Chatham, or on local memorials e.g. Malta, Singapore.  RAF personnel are also remembered on local memorials.

Army casualties with no known grave are remembered in a variety of memorials near the location of their death such as the Menin Gate, Thiepval, Beersheba or Djakarta.

Merchant Navy casualties are remembered on the memorial at Tower Hill, London.

Agencies

The starting point for any inquiry into a death is the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site – web address www.cwgc.org  – which gives basic information, plus in some instances useful links as to the place of birth, parents etc. It is advisable to try combinations of initials, and if you cannot find ‘J. Smith ’, try A.J.’ etc until you find what you are looking for.
The RAF Air Historical Branch at Great Scotland Yard, London is very helpful.

Individual Army regiments are the key to that service, and they vary in both the number and accessibility.  Often staff available to answer queries are few in number, and frequently, volunteers.  Generally, they are helpful and even the SAS will answer if you ring them long enough !

The Navy records office is at Hayes, Middlesex.  Service records are available only to next of kin, and at a fee of about £25

Merchant shipping losses can be located by the Registry of Shipping and Seamen, Llanishen, Cardiff.  They can give basic information as to where the vessel was sunk, but have no crew or cargo information.

Death certificates for servicemen are to obtained from the General Register Office, Smedley Hydo, Trafalgar Road, Southport. PR8 2HH, but are generally not very informative.