Cemmaes war memorial

Cemmaes war memorial

This memorial, beside the A470 road in the village, is in the form of a Celtic cross. It commemorates men from the area who died in the First World War and Second World War. Their details are shown below.

We have included the details of men with local connections who are not named on the war memorial, among them Lance Corporal Andrew Davies, who is buried outside St Tydecho’s Church in Cemmaes.

The name of Richard Lewis of Darowen was added to the memorial in 2018, below the Second World War names. He died in the First World War but there was no space for his name in the FWW list on the memorial.

With thanks to Rab Jones

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First World War

Andrew Davies, Lance Corporal 20366. Died 7 February 1915 aged 38. Welsh Regiment. Buried at St Tydecho’s Churchyard, Cemmaes. Husband of Mary Jane Davies, of The Terrace, Commins Coch, Cemmaes Road. Lived in Cemmaes. Enlisted in Ynysybwl, Glamorgan. He is not named on Cemmaes war memorial.

John Thomas Davies, Private 73249. Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Known as “Jac Dafis”, he was born in 1898 and raised at Bwlch Cynffyrch in the parish of Llanwrin.  He was one of nine children and in later life his mother came to live at Brynafon Bach near Cemmaes. John was injured in the Somme, France, and died of his wounds on 25 April 1918 in France, age 19. He is not named on Cemmaes war memorial.

Thomas Evans, Private F/2740. Middlesex Regiment. Born in 1886 in Darowen, the youngest of six children. He was killed in action in France on 7 June 1917, age 31.

Richard Lewis, Gunner 159357. Royal Field Artillery. Born at Tŷ Capel, Darowen, to David and Margaret Lewis. Killed in action in Flanders on 4 February 1917, aged 21. Buried at Railway Dugouts Burial Ground, Ypres. Worked as a waggoner at Tanllan Farm before the war.

George Griffiths Parry, Private 55996. Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Born in Aberystwyth in 1889, the youngest of seven children of John Parry, a stone mason from Cemmaes, and his wife Elizabeth. The family returned to Cemmaes during the 1890s. George was killed in action on 31 July 1917, during the Battle of Passchendaele near Ypres, Belgium. Age 28.

Rowland Morgans, Private 290276. Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Born in 1891 in Llanymawddwy into a large family. His parents moved to Cemmaes village in the early 1900s and Rowland and his brothers worked at various farms in the area. He was killed in action on 26 March 1917, at Gaza, Palestine. Age 25. 

Leopold Grantley Norton, Lieutenant. Durham Light Infantry. Born in 1890 in Cowbridge, Glamorgan, the youngest of three children of a military family. His family came to live at Dolcorsllwyn Hall near Aberangell. He was killed in action on 20 October 1914 near Lille, in the early stages of what became known as the 1st Battle of Ypres. Age 24.

Alfred Edward Wells, Master at Arms (Pensioner) 130203. Royal Navy, HMS Bayano. Born in London in 1869. Joined the Royal Navy at an early age and had a long naval career. His only known connection with the Dyfi Valley is that his widow was living in the Cemmaes area when he died. HMS Bayano was sunk off the coast of Scotland by a German submarine on 11 March 1915. Alfred died, aged 46.


Second World War

Idris G Lewis, Private 7362755. Royal Army Medical Corps. Born in 1918 and brought up in Cwmllinau. Killed on 11 October 1944, age 25, as the Allies advanced through Italy.

Hugh Owen, Driver T/173690. Royal Army Service Corps. Born in 1916 and brought up in Cemmaes. He was killed in the Sudan on 26 May 1941. Age 25.

William Pugh, Aircraftman 1st Class 542863. Royal Air Force 98 Squadron. He was born in 1919 and brought up in Commins Coch. William was serving in France with his squadron at the time of the fall of Dunkirk. He was one of many thousands of men who tried to get home from other ports in the west of France. He was on the troopship SS Lancastria when it was sunk by dive bombers in the Loire Estuary near St Nazaire on 17 June 1940. He died age 20.

Douglas Grove Wheeler, Lance Corporal 7888163. Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He was born in Hampshire in 1918 but his parents came to live at Dolcorsllwyn Lodge to work for the Aderne family. Douglas was caught up in the confusion of the desperate retreat and evacuation from Dunkirk in May 1940. He was reported missing, presumed killed in action between 19 and 21 May 1940. Age 22.