2018 marked the centenary of the 1st World War and the inter-war period saw the creation of many local memorials to those who served. I visited St Michael’s Church to take a look at the tribute, which was presented to the community just over 100 years ago.
The memorial tablet was unveiled by Mrs Lewis of Greenmeadow on Sunday July 20th 1919. It was dedicated by the Archdeacon of Llandaff, James Buckley. The service was given by Henry Williams, the Vicar of Whitchurch and he was assisted by his curate, J. Owain Jones.
The Western Mail wrote on 21 July 1919:
TABLET UNVEILED AT TONGWYNLAIS
At St. Michael’s Church, Tongwynlais, on Sunday a memorial was unveiled by Mrs Lewis, of Greenmeadow. The tablet is of pure Sicilian marble, surmounted by Portland stone, and contains the names of 180 who served in the war, the gift of Col. Henry Lewis, O.B.E. The services were conducted by the Vicar of Whitchurch, assisted by his curate, and a special sermon was preached by the Ven. Archdeacon of Llandaff.
Imperial War Museums (IWM) has a register of memorials where you can search for names.
There are 180 names on the original inscription for those who served in the 1st World War. 148 returned and 32 died. Additional plaques were added to honour those who served in the 2nd World War. 13 served and none returned.
There’s another memorial in Tongwynlais Primary School that was unveiled on 1st march 1928 to commemorate the “old boys of Tongwynlais schools”.
I’d love to know if anyone has done any research on this topic or if the IWM register has helped you trace your relatives.
Thank you to Rev. King and Sian from the Mothers’ Union who helped me get photos for this article.
Ceri Stennett has done a lot of research on the local war memorials. He produced a book for the first world war and is currently researching the names from WW2.