In memory of William Austin Hamer

glasbury_william_austin_hamerWilliam Austin Hamer was born to John and Sarah Hamer, who lived at Old Mill in Llanigon. He was a chorister and bell ringer at St Peter’s Church in Glasbury, where he also attended Sunday school.

Austin worked as a miner at the Empire Colliery in Glynneath before enlisting in the army. His parents then lived at 3 Dinas Terrace, Pontneddfechan.

He served at the Western Front as a Private with the 1st Battalion of the South Wales Borderers, but was captured by the Germans on 18 April 1918. His parents sent him food parcels via the Red Cross but discovered after the war that none of the parcels reached him in the prisoner of war camp.

He was one of the first prisoners of war to be returned to the British authorities in France when the war ended. His mother was informed that he was malnourished and was “nothing but bones”. He soon contracted pneumonia, and died on 4 December 1918 at a military hospital in France. He was 19 years old. He is buried at Charmes Military Cemetery, about 110km west of the German border.

Memorial services for Austin were held at Llanigon Church and St Peter’s Church, where muffled peals were sounded on the bells he had once rung himself.

Return to Glasbury war memorials page

Return to St Peter’s Church page

Return to Welsh Prisoners of War history page

soldier at graveside icon