Village Tribute

Village Tribute

by

Carol Powell

November, the season of mists, mellow fruitfullness and . . . Remembrance. It is therefore appropriate that we should devote this month to commemorating the local dead of the Great War, a century ago.

The entire losses of the Great War ran into millions, an unimaginable number of dead and wherever you travel in Britain today, in even the tiniest of villages you will discover a memorial, whether it be a Hall, hospital or monument, in honour of the local Fallen.

Mumbles is just one among many which commemorates its share of casualties—112 out of a population of a little over 6098. The Village tribute began as a black painted wooden shrine in Parade Gardens listing those, who had left to go to war, but tragically evolved into a list of those who had perished. An opening ceremony of the memorial watched by 400 spectators, took place on 14 September 1918, accompanied by a church choir and a guard of honour of soldiers. Following the War, it was decided to commemorate the fallen on a rood screen within the parish church, which is engraved with the names of 98 of the young men. The research undertaken set out to study their backgrounds in order to make each loss more discernible. Gradually each name began to emerge as an actual local character instead of a mere statistic.

Two years later on 2 June 1918, Butcher, John Morris and his wife, Lucy, of Gloucester Place, lost their son, William in the same area. Five weeks on, Printer, Mr. Tucker of Newton Road, lost his son, Arthur. He had been brought home with serious chest wounds, but subsequently died and was buried with honours at Oystermouth Cemetery.

If we mark the map with addresses of the fallen, we can see clusters. Outalong at Southend, where many were hit hard, those few terraces and streets losing ten men. As well as Harold Stammers mentioned earlier, two families lost two sons—William and Elizabeth Jenkins of Clifton terrace lost Alfred and Ernest and Thomas and Ann Michael of Hill Street lost Arthur and Ernest, both on 9 April, but four years apart. George Bank lost two of its residents — Samuel Gammon and Llewelyn Griffiths.

Arthur Ace was one of the six children of ohn and Ellen Ace of Village Lane. Nearby at Southend Villas, John Buxton’s family was in mourning. At Rock Hill Row, Sydney Claypitt’s wife Bessie and his parents, Daniel and Mary were bereft. Along the front at Dumphries Place, Raymond Statler left a wife, Jessie and four little children.

Woodville Road lost seven of its residents. As well as Frank Frizell of number 2 and Donald Foster of number 24, ( both previously mentioned) there were Alfred Baglow, of Number 22 one of the oldest at 51 years of age and Joseph Hughes, who had been one of the first to enlist on 4th August 1914 and held the dubious distinction of being the first village man to be killed. The others were H.R. Strawford of number one, Terry Poole of number 41, who left three young children and Evan Stanley Evans of number 51.

Another group is revealed at Norton, where eight young men never came home. There was Arthur Ace, who was born and grew up there, but was now married and living in Manselton, John Blair of Prospect Terrace and George Hill from Mons Terrace. The name of this terrace came about because when Mr. Beer was directing its construction in Boarspit Lane, war broke out. By this time, only numbers one to seven had been built and out of those seven houses, five tenants underwent the baptism of fire at ‘Mons’. When the war ended and the terrace was completed, Mr. Beer called the terrace ‘Mons’.

Others from the locality were Nicholas Hixson of Deu Draeth [sic] House, Herbert Sanders of Oak Cottage, one of eight cousins who went to serve, Thomas Taylor of Coltshill House and two from Forgefield Terrace—Arthur Jones, recently married to Mabel Davies, and Benjamin Payne (mentioned previously).

The Clergy were not exempt as the Rev. Latimer Davies, curate at All Saint’s Church lost his brother John Davies and The Rev. T. Davies, the pastor at Bethany lost his son, Thomas, known to his friends as TEG.

These were just some of the losses suffered by local families, which must have taken a long time to accept. During our researches, the number grew from the original 98 recorded on the Rood Screen, to 112, whose names are now included with the 98 on the public memorial at Parade Gardens, Southend.

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

MUMBLES ROLLS OF HONOUR

All Saints Church at Oystermouth Mumbles at Southend

Mumbles Methodist Church Blackpill at Clyne Chapel