Ysbyty Ifan war memorial
The war memorial outside Neuadd Goffa Ysbyty Ifan commemorates local men who died in the First World War. See below to discover who they were.
The inscription on the memorial’s tapered shaft reads: Rhyfel Mawr 1914-18. Teyrnged Yspytty i’w meibion gollwyd. ‘Yn anghof ni chant fod’. This translates as: The Great War 1914-18. Yspytty’s tribute to its sons who were lost. ‘They shall not be forgotten’. Yspytty Ifan was then a common alternative spelling for the village’s name.
The small rural community lost two men on the same day in 1916 at Mametz Wood, in the first Battle of the Somme.
One of the men named on the memorial, John ‘Cynfal’ Roberts, was awarded the Military Cross for his bravery in battle but died on the day the war ended, which was also his birthday.
The hall behind the memorial was also built in memory of the war dead. It was rebuilt in 1958.
The information below about the war dead is a summary of detailed research by the Rural Conwy and the Great War project. Follow the link below for more information or buy a copy of the project’s book Conwy Wledig a’r Rhyfel Mawr by Eryl Prys Jones, published by Menter Iaith Conwy and Gwasg Carreg Gwalch.
Postcode: LL24 0NS View Location Map
Conwy and the Great War website
First World War
Where shown, click this icon for our page in memory of the person:
- Hugh Davies. 3 Glan y Porth, Ysbyty Ifan. Private 37011. RWF 16th battalion. Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. Died 10/07/1916 aged 24, in the battle of Mametz Wood only 14 days after arriving in France. He died in the arms of his close friend, Ted Beattie. Son of David a Catherine (Kitty), 3 Glan y Porth, younger brother of Alice, Thomas, David and Ann. Worked as a farm labourer at Plas Ucha, Ysbyty Ifan, before the war.
- David Williams. Tŷ’n Lôn, Ysbyty Ifan. Private 36849. RWF 14th battalion. Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. Died 10/07/1916 aged 24, in the battle of Mametz Wood – the same day as Hugh Davies, above. Son of D Williams, Tŷ Capel, Ysbyty Ifan, but he was raised by his grandparents (Dafydd and Jane Williams) at Ty’n Lôn. Worked at Maes Gwyn farm, Pentrefoelas, before the war.
- Arthur Jones. Cerrigellgwm Isa, Ysbyty Ifan (formerly of Bryn Du, Cefn Brith). Private, 39327. RWF 8th battalion. Buried at North Gate Cemetery, Baghdad, Iraq. Died of heatstroke on 23/07/1917, aged 27, in Mesopotamia. Son of Thomas (a talented and renowned bard) and Mary Jones. He was the eldest of 10 children raised at Bryn Du, Cefn Brith. Following his education at Ty’n y Felin Council School, Glasfryn, and Bala College (where he studied botany), he worked as a teacher in Gwytherin School. He was a talented singer of verse and a gifted fiddle and harp player.
- John Robert Jones. Hafod Ifan, Ysbyty Ifan. Private 203668. RWF “B” Company, 9th battalion. Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Died 20/9/1917 aged 29. Son of Edward and Elizabeth, Hafod Ifan farm. After working on the family farm, he enlisted voluntarily.
- John Robert Jones. 4 Mill Street, Ysbyty Ifan. Private 37671 (formerly 3946). Gloucestershire Regiment (formerly Monmouthshire Regiment). Tyne Cot Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium. Died 10/10/1917.
- William Wood. 3 Mill Street, Ysbyty Ifan. Private 29440. RWF 19th Battalion. Cambrai Memorial, Louveral, France. Died 24/11/1917 aged 29, in the battle of Bourlon Wood, part of the battle of Cambrai. One of four sons of Robert and Anne Wood to serve in the Great War (Hubert, David and Frank being the others). According to a local memorial poem, William was the “biggest tenor vocalist in the village”.
- John Lloyd. ‘Yr Afon Bach’, Ysbyty Ifan (formerly of Tai’n y Maes). Private 52345. RWF 17th battalion. Buried at Englefontaine British Cemetery, Nord, France. Killed by a German sniper on 29/10/1918, aged 29. Son of Benjamin and Ann Lloyd of Tai’n y Maes farm, Ysbyty Ifan. After working on the family farm, John married and moved to the village (in a report in ‘Y Llan’ newspaper, “sympathy with his widow and young children” was expressed).
- John ‘Cynfal’ Roberts. Bod Ifan, Ysbyty Ifan. Lieutenant. Royal Field Artillery ‘A’ Battery, 158th Brigade. Buried at Terlincthum British Cemetery, Calais, France. Died 11/11/1918 (Armistice Day), aged 30. Awarded the Military Cross. Son of Owen and Elizabeth Roberts, Bod Ifan. After graduating he taught in Hawarden and later in Kingston, Jamaica. John was injured and recovered several times during the war. He caught influenza off one of his men and was taken to Boulogne Hospital on 8 November 1918. His heart failed at 11.30am on the 11 November, which was also his birthday.