Post Office war memorials, Bangor
Inside the former General Post Office complex (near Bangor library and bus station) is a memorial to staff of the local Post Office Engineering Department who died in the Second World War. The memorial to local Post Office men who died in the First World War is now at the 1982 Royal Mail sorting office in Euston Road (upper photo).
Most, but not all, of those who died are recorded in the GPO Book of Remembrance. To discover who they were, choose a category below.
Bangor’s large new Post Office and Government Buildings were opened on 1 November 1909 on the corner of Ffordd Gwynedd and Deiniol Road. This was the biggest such facility in North Wales at the time.
The need for the large new facility reflected growth in Bangor’s population, partly driven by the opening of the university, and increasing use of GPO services. In the mid-1860s the Bangor postal district needed only two postmen, eight indoor staff (including a telegraph clerk) and a telegraph messenger.
By 1909 there were c.80 staff in total, including 18 postmen for the city (excluding the rural hinterland), 10 telegraph clerks and nine messengers, each with a bicycle. After war broke out five years later, many of the staff joined the armed forces.
One of the employees commemorated on the Second World War plaque wasn’t in the armed forces but is classed as one of the civilian war dead. John Lewis, aged 48, was one of three people killed when a German bomb landed on Maesgeirchen.
With thanks to Bridget Geoghegan
Postcode: LL57 1DT View Location Map
First World War Where shown, click this icon for more details. 
- Bellis, John, Sapper 126603. Died 25/02/ 1919 aged 21. Royal Engineers. Buried Doullens Communal Cemetery Extension No.2, France. Son of Mathew and Ellen Bellis, of Llanberis. Also commemorated on Llanberis war memorial. Was a talented player of the harmonium (small foot-powered organ).
- Griffiths, RD.
- Hughes, John Idwal, Sapper 126633. Died of dysentery 26/11/1917 aged 20. Royal Engineers. Buried Dar Es Salaam War Cemetery, Tanzania. Son of Robert and Jane Hughes of Deanfield, and earlier 40 Penchwintan Road. Was an assistant postman.
- Jones, Hugh Gwilym, Rifleman 4377. Died 10/04/1916 aged 25. London Regiment (Post Office Rifles). Buried Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez, France. Son of Robert and Margaret Jones of Railway Terrace, Corwen. Born in Corwen. Also commemorated on Corwen war memorial.
- Jones, Hugh Norman, Sapper 62976. Died 29/11/1917 aged 23. Royal Engineers. Buried Merville Communal Cemetery Extension, France. Son Hugh and Annie Jones of 41 Orme Road, Bangor. Worked as a clerk in Bangor post office.
- Mulholland, D. Gunner. Was on home leave in March 1917.
- Roberts, WJ. Royal Welsh Fusiliers
- Rowthorne, William Ewart, Rifleman 306884. Died of wounds 10/04/ 1917 aged 31. West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales’s Own). Buried Euston Road Cemetery, France. Son of Mrs Eliza Rowthorn of Bron Eryri, 14 Regent Street, Bangor.
- Williams, Jesse, Sapper 78147. Died of sickness 12/03/1918 aged 25. Royal Engineers Signal Company, Cable Section. Son of Robert and Margaret Williams of Stanley House, Moelfre. Buried Llanallgo Churchyard, Anglesey. Also commemorated on Moelfre war memorial.
- Thomas, Daniel, Gunner 171923. Died 09/06/1918 aged 41. Royal Field Artillery. Buried Marfaux British Cemetery, France. Husband of Gayney M Thomas of Pros Kairon, Gaerwen, Anglesey.
- Williams, Samuel Marshall, Sapper 181935. Died 13/10/1918 aged 22. Royal Engineers. Buried Tehran War Cemetery. Son of William and Catherine Ellen Williams, of 65 Orme Rd, Bangor.
- Williams, HR. Manchester Regiment.
Second World War - Post Office Engineering Department
- Davies, John Elwyn, Flight Sergeant 1522965. Died 01/01/1945 aged 21. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 500 Sqdn. Buried at Padua War Cemetery. Son of John and Mary A Davies, of Bangor.
- Golding, Roland, Flight Sergeant Roland Golding 1481558. Died 16/03/1944 aged 30. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Buried Durnbach War Cemetery, Germany. Son of Roland and Nellie Golding; husband of Phyllis Margaret Golding of Coed Mawr, Caernarvonshire.
- Jones, Arthur Tysilio Jones, Signalman 2313458. Died 07/07/1940 aged 34. Royal Corps of Signals. Son of Owen and Margaret Jones; husband of Dorothy Ada Jones. Buried Perranzabuloe (St Piran) churchyard, Cornwall. Commemorated on family headstone at Ynys St Tysilio (Church Island) in Menai Bridge.
- Lewis, John, Civilian. Died 24/10/1941 aged 48. Buried Bangor City Cemetery. Lived at 13 Penrhyn Avenue. Died at home when a Luftwaffe bomb landed on Maesgeirchen. The explosion also killed Ann Roberts, 61, and John Charles Walters, 30, at Penrhyn Avenue.