In memory of Tom Pitman
Tom Pitman was brought up near Ystradgynlais, in the upper Swansea Valley. His parents were Henry and Winifred Pitman, of Dorset House, Cwmllynfell. Henry was a Royal Navy Petty Officer, serving on HMS Fishguard during the First World War.
After leaving school, Tom became a miner at Henllys Vale Colliery, near Cwmllynfell. He left to become a police constable in the Breconshire Constabulary and was posted initially to Brecon and Talgarth. He was stationed at Builth Wells in the early part of the war.
He enlisted in the army and became a gunner with the Royal Garrison Artillery. The portrait on the left depicts Tom with his father, in their service uniforms. Tom’s brother Sidney also served in the Royal Navy.
In December 1916 a “reception concert” was held in Cwmtwrch to honour Tom and another local soldier, Howel Lewis.
Corporal Tom Pitman was killed by a shell at the Western Front on 9 May 1918. He was 23 years old. He is buried at Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery at Souchez, in the Pas de Calais region of France.
Memorial services for Tom were held at St Margaret’s Church, Cwmllynfell, and Ebenezer Chapel, Gwys, in May and June 1918. The vicar at the church service remarked that colliers had been slow to join the forces in the war, prompting a letter of indignation to the press from 18 Welsh colliers at an army camp in Nottinghamshire.
Return to Builth Wells war memorial page
Return to Brecon Cathedral war memorials page
