Dr Jonathan Hicks' "Barry at War" : The All Saint's Church Memorial

BARRY MEMORIALS OF THE GREAT WAR - 6

In the sixth of his series of articles on Barry's Great War Memorials, Dr Jonathan Hicks looks at the stories behind the All Saints' Church Memorial.

THE MYSTERIOUS 'HERBERT WEST'

The memorial to the men of All Saints' Church who died during the Great War 1914-1918 is a superbly crafted piece of marble with several dozen names inscribed.

Among these names is that of Thomas Henry Williams, who had lived at 5 The Triangle, Barry Island. He was a regular soldier and served with the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards. Aged 21, he was killed on 7th November 1914 when a German shell exploded in the trench he was standing in just outside Arques during the First Battle of Ypres. His father said that on the night his son was killed he heard him calling to him in a dream.

Sergeant William Nash of the 3rd Battalion of the Monmouthshire Regiment was a regular soldier, aged 41, when he died in May 1915. The husband of Mary Nash of 11 Broad Street, he was killed at the Second Battle of Ypres, during what the War Diary calls 'bombardment of trenches.' The British position had shrunk to little more than a large artillery target and the German guns shelled the British trenches all day. The Germans had finished digging themselves into their new positions and had increased their sniping activity; either of these could have accounted for Sergeant Nash's death on 6th May. He was an active church worker and left a widow and four children. His body was never found and his name is inscribed on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres.

Lieutenant Colonel James Robert Angus was the most senior officer of the Barry men killed during the Great War. Aged 45, he commanded the 11th Battalion of the South Wales Borderers and was accidentally drowned whilst swimming in a river behind the front line on 17th September 1917. He had gone to the river for his morning bathe and swam to the far bank. Upon returning he got into difficulties, the current preventing him from landing. Two soldiers dived into the water to try to save him but could not hold onto him. He was a police officer in Barry before war broke out and had served in the Boer War with the Grenadier Guards.

Ernest and William Surridge were the sons of Ernest and Lucy Surridge of 56 Castle Streeet. Ernest was employed in the Locomotive Department of Barry Railway, whilst William worked in the cleaning shed. William joined the 9th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade and died of wounds received in action on 30th August 1917, aged 20. He had been evacuated back the military base at Etaples for treatment after having been wounded during the four days of fierce fighting around Langemarck, part of the Battle of Passchendaele. The Germans were firmly entrenched on the ridge, their defences comprised of three lines, the third being beyond the range of the British guns. Between these lines were barbed wire, concrete pillboxes and machine gun nests. The barbed wire channelled the attackers into killing zones swept by machine guns and carefully registered by the artillery so that the British soldiers were annihilated by a crippling concentration of shells.

Lance Corporal Ernest Surridge was killed the following year, in April 1918, while serving with the 1st Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters. He died aged 19 during the fighting to resist the major German offensive of that spring which came close to breaking the British lines. His body was never found and he is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial.

2nd Lieutenant Llewellyn Price Jones was the son of William Price Jones and Gertrude Jones, of 37 Romilly Park. He was educated at Barry County School and at Llandovery College and enlisted in October 1916. He was killed in action on 20th September 1917 while serving with the Welsh Regiment on the first day of the Battle of the Menin Road, one of the actions during the great offensive at Passchendaele. At 5.40 a.m. that morning the 9th Welsh attacked the German positions in Hessian Wood. The conditions were atrocious with heavy, clinging mud preventing the troops from keeping pace with their own artillery barrage. They were held up by machine gun fire but managed to take the northern edge of it. Jones was killed sometime during this attack whilst leading his men.

Lieutenant John Percival Marshall was the son of Councillor John Marshall, of "Dros-y-Mor," 6 Park Road. He was educated at Barry County School, and then joined the Royal Field Artillery. He attended Woolwich Academy and went to France in December 1915 where he served for two years before dying of gas wounds in November 1917 at Duhallow Advanced Dressing Station, believed to have been named after a southern Irish hunt, which was a medical post 1.6 kilometres north of Ypres. He had been home on leave in Barry just eight days before.

There may be one mistake on the All Saints' Church Memorial. The last name listed is that of Private W. West, 1st Monmouthshire Regiment. This is perhaps Private Hubert West, the son of William and Emily West of 38 Salisbury Road who were members of the Bethel Baptist Church congregation and had their son listed on that church's memorial. However, Hubert, it appears, was not a member of that church, but of All Saints. He served with the 1st Battalion of the Monmouthshire Regiment and was killed, aged 22, on 13th October 1915 at the Battle of Loos during the attack on the formidable German stronghold, the Hohenzollern Redoubt. He may also be 'Herbert' West who is listed on the High Street School Memorial but of whom no trace can be found, as he was known as 'Bert'.

The confusion may have arisen because Private J. Seymour, a Barry man serving with the Welsh Guards, wrote to the 'Barry Dock News' with the following story: 'During a spell of firing, a party of men were told off to bury the dead. We came across a man belonging to the 1st Mons. and by some papers found upon him, he appeared to be Hubert West, of 28 High Street Barry. Although we did not know who the poor fellow was, we gave him as decent a burial as possible, especially considering that the German snipers had spotted us. There were photos in his possession, which our sergeant showed me, but I could not recognise any of them. It will interest his relatives to know that we found the body near to the first line of trenches.' The date of the report was 12th November 1915 and the plot thickens because a week later Mr West wrote in claiming him as his son. It appears, from talking to relatives, that Hubert was courting a young lady from High Street and this is why he had documents on him relating to that address.

Trooper John Alexander Morgan of 5 Castle Street is the only man on the memorial to have been buried in Barry. He died of wounds in February 1919 and is buried in Barry Cemetery.

I am grateful to Mr Geoff Cule for the photograph of the All Saints' Church Memorial.

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	BARRY MEMORIALS OF THE GREAT WAR - 6 In the sixth of his series of articles on Barry's Great War Memorials, Dr Jonathan Hicks looks at the stories behind the All Saints' Church Memorial. THE MYSTERIOUS 'HERBERT WEST' The memorial to the men of All Saints' Church who died during the Great War 1914-1918 is a superbly crafted piece of marble with several dozen names inscribed. Among these names is that of Thomas Henry Williams, who had lived at 5 The Triangle, Barry Island. He was a regular soldier and served with the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards. Aged 21, he was killed on 7th November 1914 when a German shell exploded in the trench he was standing in just outside Arques during the First Battle of Ypres. His father said that on the night his son was killed he heard him calling to him in a dream. Sergeant William Nash of the 3rd Battalion of the Monmouthshire Regiment was a regular soldier, aged 41, when he died in May 1915. The husband of Mary Nash of 11 Broad Street, he was killed at the Second Battle of Ypres, during what the War Diary calls 'bombardment of trenches.' The British position had shrunk to little more than a large artillery target and the German guns shelled the British trenches all day. The Germans had finished digging themselves into their new positions and had increased their sniping activity; either of these could have accounted for Sergeant Nash's death on 6th May. He was an active church worker and left a widow and four children. His body was never found and his name is inscribed on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres. Lieutenant Colonel James Robert Angus was the most senior officer of the Barry men killed during the Great War. Aged 45, he commanded the 11th Battalion of the South Wales Borderers and was accidentally drowned whilst swimming in a river behind the front line on 17th September 1917. He had gone to the river for his morning bathe and swam to the far bank. Upon returning he got into difficulties, the current preventing him from landing. Two soldiers dived into the water to try to save him but could not hold onto him. He was a police officer in Barry before war broke out and had served in the Boer War with the Grenadier Guards. Ernest and William Surridge were the sons of Ernest and Lucy Surridge of 56 Castle Streeet. Ernest was employed in the Locomotive Department of Barry Railway, whilst William worked in the cleaning shed. William joined the 9th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade and died of wounds received in action on 30th August 1917, aged 20. He had been evacuated back the military base at Etaples for treatment after having been wounded during the four days of fierce fighting around Langemarck, part of the Battle of Passchendaele. The Germans were firmly entrenched on the ridge, their defences comprised of three lines, the third being beyond the range of the British guns. Between these lines were barbed wire, concrete pillboxes and machine gun nests. The barbed wire channelled the attackers into killing zones swept by machine guns and carefully registered by the artillery so that the British soldiers were annihilated by a crippling concentration of shells. Lance Corporal Ernest Surridge was killed the following year, in April 1918, while serving with the 1st Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters. He died aged 19 during the fighting to resist the major German offensive of that spring which came close to breaking the British lines. His body was never found and he is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial. 2nd Lieutenant Llewellyn Price Jones was the son of William Price Jones and Gertrude Jones, of 37 Romilly Park. He was educated at Barry County School and at Llandovery College and enlisted in October 1916. He was killed in action on 20th September 1917 while serving with the Welsh Regiment on the first day of the Battle of the Menin Road, one of the actions during the great offensive at Passchendaele. At 5.40 a.m. that morning the 9th Welsh attacked the German positions in Hessian Wood. The conditions were atrocious with heavy, clinging mud preventing the troops from keeping pace with their own artillery barrage. They were held up by machine gun fire but managed to take the northern edge of it. Jones was killed sometime during this attack whilst leading his men. Lieutenant John Percival Marshall was the son of Councillor John Marshall, of "Dros-y-Mor," 6 Park Road. He was educated at Barry County School, and then joined the Royal Field Artillery. He attended Woolwich Academy and went to France in December 1915 where he served for two years before dying of gas wounds in November 1917 at Duhallow Advanced Dressing Station, believed to have been named after a southern Irish hunt, which was a medical post 1.6 kilometres north of Ypres. He had been home on leave in Barry just eight days before. There may be one mistake on the All Saints' Church Memorial. The last name listed is that of Private W. West, 1st Monmouthshire Regiment. This is perhaps Private Hubert West, the son of William and Emily West of 38 Salisbury Road who were members of the Bethel Baptist Church congregation and had their son listed on that church's memorial. However, Hubert, it appears, was not a member of that church, but of All Saints. He served with the 1st Battalion of the Monmouthshire Regiment and was killed, aged 22, on 13th October 1915 at the Battle of Loos during the attack on the formidable German stronghold, the Hohenzollern Redoubt. He may also be 'Herbert' West who is listed on the High Street School Memorial but of whom no trace can be found, as he was known as 'Bert'. The confusion may have arisen because Private J. Seymour, a Barry man serving with the Welsh Guards, wrote to the 'Barry Dock News' with the following story: 'During a spell of firing, a party of men were told off to bury the dead. We came across a man belonging to the 1st Mons. and by some papers found upon him, he appeared to be Hubert West, of 28 High Street Barry. Although we did not know who the poor fellow was, we gave him as decent a burial as possible, especially considering that the German snipers had spotted us. There were photos in his possession, which our sergeant showed me, but I could not recognise any of them. It will interest his relatives to know that we found the body near to the first line of trenches.' The date of the report was 12th November 1915 and the plot thickens because a week later Mr West wrote in claiming him as his son. It appears, from talking to relatives, that Hubert was courting a young lady from High Street and this is why he had documents on him relating to that address. Trooper John Alexander Morgan of 5 Castle Street is the only man on the memorial to have been buried in Barry. He died of wounds in February 1919 and is buried in Barry Cemetery. I am grateful to Mr Geoff Cule for the photograph of the All Saints' Church Memorial. Back to Dr Hicks' Main Page

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