Porthcawl and
 The Great War
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  • Biographies (1)
    • Gallipoli
    • The Western Front 1915
    • Early 1916
    • The Battle of The Somme (1)
    • The Battle of The Somme (2)
    • Major Charles Alan Smith Morris
  • What's your story? (1)
    • John Wilson Henry (2)
    • Private Benny James (3)
    • Gunner William Anderson (4)
    • Two Porthcawl Brothers (5)
    • Private Emrys Cadivor Richards (6)
    • Llewelyn Wyn Griffith (7)
    • The Other Side of the Trench
    • David's blog
  • Porthcawl at War
    • August - December 1914
    • January - April 1915

We Will Remember Them

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In future this site will be dedicated to the Porthcawl and the Great War. 
All other information relating to Porthcawl Museum will, in future, be held on the  Porthcawl Museum site. Visit - porthcawlmuseum.com
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Available from Porthcawl Museum £6. Second Reprint. All proceeds to the Museum.
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3rd and Final book documenting Porthcawl and the Great War. Available from Porthcawl Museum £6. All proceeds to the Museum.
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Available from Porthcawl Museum £6. All proceeds to the Museum.
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Commemorative Booklet available at Porthcawl Museum. Price £3. All proceeds to the Museum.
JANUARY 1918

“Owing to the breakdown of Russia, the military situation was more favourable to us at New Year 1918 than one could ever have expected.’ General Erich Ludendorff, German Imperial Army.
Whereas the German High Command was able to increase its military strength on the Western Front, the Allies were in a weak position, as American troops had not yet arrived in huge numbers.
Further, the continued Royal Naval blockade of German ports was crippling Germany economically. German people were enduring serious food shortages, the transport infrastructure was breaking down, morale was at an alltime low and strikes were developing throughout the country.
Germany needed the war to end as soon as was possible. In January 1918, they continued to plan for an all out attack, along the allied lines, with the aim of breaking through to victory.
Therefore, all was quiet on the Western Front until 21st March, when the Spring Offensive, began. 

Thus begins 1918.
​The third and last book in the series will be out October 2018.
'1918 and The Aftermath'.

Porthcawl resident or not,we would love to hear your family's story from the war years.
Please contact us at
porthcawlmuseum@hotmail.co.uk


The Western Front 1915
             Read more

The Battle of the Somme
                  1916  
                 
                Read more

Conscription was introduced in Britain 
January 1916 
        Read more
Private Davies's Battalion was at the front Christmas 1914. 
click here.
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Private Frederick James Davies 2nd Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers
Private Davies took part in the Christmas Truce and received this pouch. It is believed that men who didn't smoke had the pouch, instead of the Princess Mary tin, which held tobacco.The pouch contained writing materials .
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Princess Mary Christmas Pouch
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Private Wilson Edwick teaching a horse to eat out of his hoof.
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Porthcawl Railway Staff 1917
Philip Harding (front row,far right) had been Porthcawl’s Station Porter since 1865. His intention had been to retire in 1914 but he was heard to say:

“ I am too old to go and fight, but I will continue to do my duty by remaining here until the war is over.”

Mr Harding retired in August 1919 aged 72 yrs.

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The man who enlisted three times! Click on his photo.
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German U Boat washed ashore in Hastings.
     The U-boat, was the German Navy's most formidable weapon.           It was more sophisticated than those built by any other nation at the time.  Typical U-boats were 214 feet long, carried 35 men and 12 torpedoes. The U Boat could travel underwater for two hours at a time. In the first few years of World War I,  Allied shipping suffered greatly from the effect of this weapon.The most famous ship to be targeted was the 'Lusitania.'
On 31st January 1917, Germany announced the intention of unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic. German submarines were prepared to attack any and all ships, including civilian passenger carriers, said to be sighted in war-zone waters.The aim was to inflict such high losses on British Merchant ships, thought to carrying urgently needed food and ammunition imports to Britain. German command believed that an early peace could then be achieved before the United States could react effectively.
The U-118, pictured above, surrendered on 23 February 1919. Her last hit was the British tanker 'Arca', on 2nd October off Donegal,Ireland.
Following her surrender, the tow cable snapped during the voyage to France . As a result she went aground off Hastings on 15 April 1919.       She was later broken up and sold for scrap.It is believed that some of the keel still lays under the sand at Hastings.
During the intense attacks of 1917, by German U Boats on Merchant shipping, 3 Porthcawl men lost their lives.
Chief Petty Officer Richard Power,Chief Officer Angus Grant and Fourth Engineer Officer William Robert Lewis. click here for more information.

Major William Dowdeswell

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Major William Dowdeswell, 
(front row. 4th from the right.) from Pontypridd, served with the 5th Battalion,at Gallipoli; as their commanding officer.The battalion was part of the 53rd (Welsh) Division that landed at Suvla Bay on 9th August 1915. Following the failed military advances of August, work and sickness filled the next months. Exacerbated by millions of flies, unburied corpses lying between opposing trenches and the confined space in which men and animals existed, resulted in thousands of cases of dysentery and diarrhea. Early in October the numbers in the 4th and 5th Welsh had fallen so low that the two Battalions were amalgamated into one, called the 4th/5th Welsh Composite, under command of Major H. H. Southey of the 5th Welsh, Major Dowdeswell having been invalided home, on 7th October, suffering with chronic dysentery. Home eventually became, Southcove, The Esplanade, Porthcawl to where he and his family moved, a few years after the war. In 1930,Colonel W Dowdeswell died and was buried at St John’s Church, Newton. It is interesting to note that cause of death was attributed to his time in Gallipoli.

Eventually, on 11th December the 4th/5th Composite was the first unit to be evacuated from the peninsula. The evacuation was forced by a combination of combat, disease and harsh weather which saw the division reduced to just 162 officers and 2428 men, approximately 15% of its former strength.

'Porthcawl at War' tells
the story of the war so far. click here.

16th (Service) Battalion (Cardiff City) 
The Welsh Regiment

Arrived at Porthcawl on 27th November 1914. Under the command of Captain Frank Hill Gaskell, they were billeted with friends, in a continuous row of houses at a cost of 23/4d per man. One soldier writes home, ”We are billeted in the best of houses, we receive the best possible food to obtain, and sleep in beds fit for any gentleman to sleep in.”
​
( Glamorgan Gazette 11th December 1914.) 
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​Captain Gaskell from Llanishen, had already served with the 2nd Battalion, Welsh Regiment at the front, during which time he was shot in the jaw. It was whilst he was home, convalescing, that he was asked to command the new 16th Battalion, Welsh Regiment raised at Cardiff. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel , Gaskell had already forged links with Porthcawl during previous years. Not only had he rented a house at 3 Esplanade Avenue with his wife, Violet, had his daughter Mary christened at the local Catholic Church in 1913; but in that same year had accompanied Major John Lambert , a former Chairman of Porthcawl Town Council ,in a town recruitment drive encouraging ex-servicemen to enlist in the reserves, should there be a war in Europe. Therefore, along with Porthcawl’s reputation as a well-established garrison town, it was not surprising that he wished the 16th to be transferred to Porthcawl for initial training. 
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Lt Colonel Frank H. Gaskell
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Receipt asked for a year later.
Following the death of Lt Colonel Gaskell on 15th May 1916, as a result of a sniper's bullet hitting his ammunition pouch,Major Frank W. Smith took over command.On 11th June 1916, the Battalion along with other units of the 38th Division moved south to
​The Somme in readiness for the July Offensive.  

The 16th Battalion was to serve at Mametz Wood.

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Mametz Wood by Christopher Williams now on display at The Royal Welsh Fusilier Museum, Caernavon Castle.
For more information on 'The Somme' click here

Cigarette Case Saves Soldier’s Life
​at Gallipoli

The life of Private John James Thomas, 4th Battalion, Welsh Regiment, was saved by his cigarette case at Suvla Bay, August 1915.

John James Thomas was born in the village of Penygroes, Near Llanelli. Although he had begun an apprenticeship at a draper’s shop, he was more concerned with the war. John’s neighbour, who had enlisted in 1914, had allowed him to try on his uniform and hold his gun, whilst on leave. This affected John to such an extent that one particular day in January 1915, instead of going to work, as his mother had thought, he got on a train to Brecon and joined the 4th Battalion, Welsh Regiment, having lied about his age. Private John J Thomas, Service No 813, was 15 years old.

Following training, the battalion left from Devonport on 19th July aboard the SS Mauritania, bound for the Mediterranean. On the 9th August, as part of the 53rd (Welsh) Division, John’s battalion landed at Suvla Bay on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The division soon suffered over-crowding, chaos on the beaches, and constant sniper fire from Turkish batteries, positioned on the cliffs above. Many casualties occurred in those first few days and had it not been for his cigarette case, Private Thomas would certainly have been one. A bullet aimed at his heart struck the cigarette case positioned in his breast pocket.

John’s son, also, named John Thomas, commented, “It is said that it was the first time such a thing had ever happened in British military history.” Mr. & Mrs. Thomas, from Bridgend, had visited the Porthcawl Museum recently, during which time this remarkable story was revealed to the staff on duty. Later, Mr. Thomas returned to the museum with his father’s medals and that infamous cigarette case. Paul Joseph, Chair of the Museum, stated ,”We feel very grateful and privileged that Mr. Thomas has allowed us to display his father’s memorabilia.”

The case will now form the centrepiece of the Porthcawl Museum’s display – ‘The Welsh at Gallipoli,’ opening Saturday 8th August 2015. 

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Private Thomas is the young man in the middle row.
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March 1st 1915


“GWLAD FY NHADAU”
RHODD CYMRU I’W BYDDIN
A book was produced to coincide with the event at Leicester Square, to raise funds for Welsh troops and their families. It contained a collection of Welsh art, music and literature of the day, provided by notable Welsh artistes. 

Mrs Margaret Lloyd George was the 
Chairman of the Committee that organized the book and the event.
The last item is written by PM David Lloyd George who highlights the debt paid by small nations to war. He especially mentions Belgium and Wales.

A copy of the book is on show at the Museum.
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Private Glan Evan's call up paper. Notice the date.


Private A.D.Evans

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Porthcawl early 1914
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22nd February 1914
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After the First World War ended this canon, which was given to Porthcawl Town Defence Corps, ended up as a landmark on the seafront. 
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Between the wars it stood proudly next to the Coastguard Station and the Pilot's House.In 1940,it was removed and used as scrap as part of the war effort.
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When war was declared on 4th August 1914, all reservists and naval personnel were called up and left Porthcawl within the week. Men,who were outside the enlistment age, volunteered to replace the fighting men. Also, being a coast town, fear was felt that the enemy would come up the channel. Therefore, Porthcawl formed its own Volunteer Coast Intelligence Department. Official badges were issued. (photograph)

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Corporal H.J.E.Maxwell was killed on such a road as this.        Read more
  


25,000 tunnellers were operating behind enemy lines by 1916.
 Many lost their lives.   Read more.
  • Charles Neil Chambers was Porthcawl's first casualty of the war.
              Read his biography
  • Porthcawl Memorial was dedicated on 16th July 1921. Like most memorials after the war it was paid for through public donation. 
                Why were memorials built?
                       Read more
  • In the years leading up to the First World War Porthcawl welcomed over 50,000 Territorial Forces from all over England and Wales.In the summer of 1913 the Porthcawl News refers to Porthcawl as a "Canvas City".
                     Read more

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Baron von Richthofen
    What is the link between The Red Baron,an Australian machine gunner and Porthcawl?                               
         Read on.....
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Corporal Joseph Leonard Carter
, Welsh Guards, was killed on 16th January 1916 in France.
 A native of  Tetbury , Gloucester. 

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Juan Manuel Aldana is the first name on the Porthcawl memorial. To learn about him and his fellow soldiers 
Click here
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JW Henry served in both Army and Navy
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Kit Inspection Jim Fisher 19th April 1918
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trench_life_0001.wmv
File Size: 20398 kb
File Type: wmv
Download File

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 photos used in the making of the above media video were taken from -https://hwb.wales.gov.uk/Holding/Pages/index.html
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Field Hospital X-ray

This is an x-ray of Corporal Arthur Cecil Avenell's leg. 
Cecil worked for the GWR at Bridgend prior to the war, distinguished himself at the Battle of Arras.
His mother lived at 28 Suffolk Place, Porthcawl.
On 31st January at Cambrai, Cpl Avenell received a bullet wound to the left leg, which resulted in his leg being amputated 8 inches above the knee.
During his long recovery, he was transferred from one hospital to another.One of the hospitals that he was a patient was St John’s Auxiliary Hospital ,Porthcawl in February 1919.
Cpl Avenell was fitted with an artificial limb on 6th September 1919.
 Married Stella Hartery in 1920.
Died March 1970.

It is likely that Marie Curie or her daughter took this X-ray.
After war broke out in July 1914, Marie realised what a vital role X-ray machines could play in treating the men who were wounded in battle. She began touring Paris raising funds, gathering supplies and persuading car manufacturers to convert their vehicles into X-ray ambulances. She eventually established 200 of these mobile X-ray units, known as “Little Curies”, which she herself would drive to the front line.

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                                              The Race to the Sea

At the commencement of the war a trench was nowhere to be seen. The Germans had invaded France through Luxembourg and crossed the border into Belgium. Their objective was the fall of Paris. The French, Belgium and British response was to throw armies into the field to halt the German advance. The struggle between both sides, intensified after the defeat of the Germans at the battle of the Marne, 7th-10th September 1914. The Germans withdrew to the River Aisne and dug in. As each side attempted to attack the other’s northern flank in order to surround the enemy, escalating manoeuvres resulted in both sides moving toward the Belgian border and the North Sea coast. It ended with the first battle of Ypres (30th October-24th November 1914) when a German drive to capture the Channel ports was prevented. The result of this “race to the sea” was the emergence of two continuous lines of trenches reaching from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border. A stalemate was created which was to dominate the Western Front until the German spring offensive of March 1918.

Map - www.historyofwar.org  – map of race to the sea


       Gallipoli  1915



One of the bloodiest campaigns of the First World War was fought in the Dardenelles between April 25th April - 11th October 1915. 



250,000 casualties were sustained by British and Commonwealth troops. 47,000 French and 250,000 Turkish. 
What part did Porthcawl play? 


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This list is not complete as 2 Porthcawl policemen are not recorded. PC Frank Trott and PC Joseph Carter.
This website is owned by Porthcawl Museum. The website has been created by Ceri Joseph. 

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