In memory of William Charles Wynne
William Charles Wynne was born in 1911 in Llanfairfechan, writes nephew Andrew Hinchliff. His parents were Charles Henry and Florence Wynne, of 3 Bryn Coed. Charles senior was head grocer at the Eames shop in the village, but left to serve in the First World War. He was gassed on the Western Front, but survived and returned to work at the shop.
William Charles, known as Charlie, became an apprentice plumber but could not find work in the great depression. He therefore left for Canada in 1931, ending up in Winnipeg. There he worked as a plumber and later a lumberjack. He became a Canadian citizen.
He was engaged but had not married when he volunteered for service at the beginning of the Second World War. He went to France with the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps, and was evacuated from Dunkirk when the Nazis invaded. Finding himself back in Britain, he visited relatives. A cousin remembers him bringing home a banana, a rarity in Britain at the time.
He was subsequently posted to Aldershot, where he trained as a motorcycle despatch rider. He died accidentally while training on 25 October 1940, aged 29. He is buried at Erw Feiriol cemetery in Llanfairfechan.