Daniel William Tyler Gunner 1133679 24th Field Regiment Royal Artillery
Killed in Action 8th February 1944
Dan was a son of William Charles and Dora Tyler and was brought up at Woodcroft. He had a bright, sunny personality and was very popular. He married Doris King and they lived at The Glen, Mounton. They had two daughters, Shirley and Patricia, but Dan never lived to see Patricia. Dan and William Watkins, both of whom lost their lives in 1944, married daughters of the King family, who lived at Mounton House, Mr King being an employee of the Liddells.
He had served in the Royal Artillery since December 1941. The Allies launched their attack on Italy in 1944, beginning landings at Anzio Beach on January 22nd. Dan was killed on the beach some two weeks later and is buried in the Anzio War Cemetery, 1 km north of Anzio town along with 1055 others who died over the weeks it took to secure the beach head. He was aged 25.
Captain Ian Oswald Liddell VC – 5th Battalion Coldstream Guards
Died 21st April 1945 Age 24
Ian was born in Shanghai in 1920, the second son of Percy William and Gwendoline Ray Liddell. His father was the Chairman of Liddell Brothers, a family Merchant Trading Firm in China. On returning from China they settled at Mounton House, one branch of the family being already established at Shirenewton Hall, and Percy was soon elected a member of Monmouthshire County Council
Ian was educated at St Andrews School, Eastbourne, followed by Harrow. His mother described him as the mischievous boy who grew up to be “a frightfully happy and unshakeably good tempered man. He was devoted to animals and loved music. He delighted in writing pantomimes and plays.” In an obituary tribute the Vicar of Mounton wrote “We knew him as the boy who could not do a dishonourable thing, for as we have watched him grow up we have been struck by his modesty, his hatred of pride and snobbery, and his extreme thoughtfulness and kindness towards those whose lot in life was less fortunate than his own.”
Ian left Harrow in 1937 and began training to be a Veterinary Surgeon but in May 1940 he enlisted in the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. He was sent to Sandhurst, by November was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant with the Coldstream Guards and the following February was made a member of the Coates Commission: this was a select band of officers, only eight in number, whose special responsibility was to protect the King, Queen and two Princesses if the Germans successfully invaded Britain. The very existence of this team was a secret throughout the War.
Eventually the threat of an invasion receded and Ian was returned to his unit. Meanwhile his brother David was serving with the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and was awarded the Military Cross for outstanding bravery in Italy in June 1944. Their sister was a welfare supervisor with a Bristol firm and Ian himself, whilst training in Yorkshire, had met a W.A.A.F. officer, Patricia Patton-Bethune.
He took part in the liberation of Europe from the first day, marched with his unit in their triumphal entry into Brussels and was among the first to enter Germany. In his style of leadership he used all his varied talents to guide and encourage his men as shown in the tribute from The Times. He also took time off to marry Patricia in January 1945 – she was from Hampton Hill in Middlesex but came to live in Mounton with her in-laws.
On 3rd April, showing amazing courage and blessed with unbelievable good luck, he saved a strategic bridge from destruction. Details of this, for which he was awarded the V.C. are given in the next section. Then on 21st April, his Company were fighting their way down the road towards Rothenburg. Having just positioned a new Platoon Commander, he was returning to his HQ with a colleague when both men were shot by a sniper. Ian died on the way to hospital.
Ian was buried in Becklingen War Cemetery, Soltau, Germany. His V.C. was presented to his widow and his mother by His Majesty King George VI on 12th February 1946. Thereafter Patricia eventually remarried and the rest of the family moved back up to Shirenewton Hall, where they continued to live until 1976, when they moved to Dorset. Both parents lived to a ripe age, Percy until 1967 and Gwendoline until 1978.
Arthur Malcolm Frederick Cook Sergeant 1067230 23 Squadron Fighter Command
RAF Volunteer Reserve
Died 9th September 1942 -aged 22
Malcolm was the fifth child of Johnathon and Victoria Cook. The family had moved from the Pen-y-Clawdd area in 1927 when Mr Cook took up the job of “lengthsman” for the Usk Road from Chepstow as far as the Cross Hands (now The Huntsman). Johnathon was a very keen gardener and Victoria took an active part in local entertainments. Altogether the Cooks had four sons and two daughters. They lived at “The Lilacs”, just a few yards down from Mounton’s village green (now roundabout!).on the Pwllmeyric road. Like most country cottages in those days there was no electricity or mains water. Water was fetched from a tap on the village green in a “water Jack” (a tall galvanised steel can) which needed two of the children to carry it.
After a couple of years at Pen-y-Clwydd school Malcolm transferred to the school at Mathern, moving on to Larkfield Grammar School at the age of 10. He was a typical local boy and led a good life in the rural surroundings. The Mounton Brook was teeming with trout and the boys became expert “ticklers” – the trout enjoyed having their tummies tickled but got a nasty shock when they were suddenly grabbed! He was a member of the Church choir at Mathern. This required some talent and considerable dedication: he had to walk to Mathern and back for Thursday practice plus the morning and evening Sunday services, with an extra service at Mounton some Sunday afternoons. All this walking was in addition to walking to school but there was a little consolation to be had – even on a Sunday there were two sweet shops open on the route . . . .
Malcolm grew into a fairly tall serious minded young man. He was employed in the Drawing Office of Fairfield Engineering Works at Chepstow and served an apprenticeship as a draughtsman before going into the RAF. He was presumably associated with the RAF in some way during his apprenticeship as 23 Squadron was a Volunteer Reserve Squadron.
At the time of his death he was the observer on a Mosquito fighter-bomber mark II, number DD-684. The only other crew member was the pilot, Sergeant G R Wright of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The aircraft went missing at 02.00 hours on the morning of 9th September whilst on a night intruder patrol over the Dutch coast in order to attack German aircraft and ground targets. Little is known of how the Mosquito was lost but the most likely cause was anti-aircraft fire.
Nothing was ever heard of Mosquito DD-684 again and it is believed to have come down in the sea off Eindhoven, Holland. Malcolm and his comrade are listed on the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede, which overlooks the River Thames on Cooper’s Hill near Windsor. This memorial commemorates all those airmen who fought with the Allies, lost their lives in North West Europe and the adjacent seas and have no known grave.
Both Malcolm’s sisters were nurses and his three brothers saw active service in the Army. Fortunately they all survived unharmed. Shortly before Malcolm was killed Mr and Mrs Cook had moved to Woodside, also known as The Owl’s Nest, alongside the Usk Road. Not only was this better for Mr Cook in his job, it had mains water and electricity and an excellent garden which Mrs Cook set up as a Tea Garden after the War.
Malcolm’s parents lived to enjoy a good retirement. The sisters and two brothers are still alive of whom one, Mr H P (“Bubbles”) Cook, still lives locally.
Malcolm with his sister Louise probably on his last visit home
Albert was born in Haverfordwest. Army records give his home as Chepstow, the son of John & Mary Warlow of Chepstow. Fortunately the newspaper gives his address as Crick, which shows that he was one of five brothers and a sister brought up at Manor Farm (until recently about half of Crick was in Mathern parish but now the boundary is set by the motorway). The Warlows continued to manage the farm well into the 1930s and it was a noted local source of strong cider.
Albert enlisted at Merthyr Tydfil some years before the War, served his time in the Royal Engineers and was transferred to the Reserves. Upon mobilisation when the War began he was placed in the 56th Field Company of the Royal Engineers, first serving in France on 18th August 1914. Of the men from the Chepstow area he was the first casualty of the War, being posted missing on 21st August.
In the early weeks of the War the Germans were invading Belgium. To hinder their advance from Mons to Ypres 28 men including Albert were sent to blow up a bridge. Only a few returned. Albert was injured, taken prisoner and died three months later in a German military hospital near Brussels. He is buried in Cement House Cemetery, Langemark, just north of Ypres, grave ref 1.A.6. He is entitled to the Mons Star, War and Victory medals.
In the Chepstow Weekly Advertiser of December 26 1914 the Roll of Honour includes the following under “Missing”: Pte J Warlow (Crick) Royal Engineers. There is no record of a brother serving in the Royal Engineers, it just seems that the circumstances of Albert’s death were unclear, ill reported, also that his parents did not know of his death till the first week of January 1915
Extract from Weekly Argus issues of May and June 1915 which repeatedly gave the wrong date for Albert’s death – it must have been disheartening for parents to see their dead son’s name in the next column to adverts such as this each week! Also note E Davidge of Crick.
Thomas Henry Saunders Pte 5932106 1st Battalion Suffolk Regiment
Died Friday 24th May 1940 AGED 30
Thomas is listed as husband of Nancy Ellen Saunders of Hereford. We have not yet discovered his association with Mathern but he may well be from the family that lived at New Hall, Hayes Gate. He was the son of George & Edith Saunders.
Buried in Cretinier Cemetery, Wattrelos, Nord, France – Grave 2
Christopher Albert Edward Prickett Private 353637 Manchester Regiment
Killed in action 26th April 1918 AGE: 19
Christopher was the son of Albert & Elizabeth Jane Prickett of Mathern. He was born in Mounton and enlisted in Chepstow.
He was serving in France with the 12th Manchester Regiment which was also known as The Duke of Lancasters Own Yeomanry Battalion owing to an amalgamation of two battalions at the end of 1917. He was killed just as the final major German assault of the Great War was grinding to a halt against the Allies holding out along the Somme front.
Christopher was buried in the extension to the Forceville Communal Cemetery near Albert in Northern France, just west of the line where the German advance was held. He would have been awarded the War and Victory medals.
Captain Claude Wilfred Stanton Monmouthshire Regiment
Killed in action 8th May 1915 AGE: 24
Claude was the son of Joseph Wilfred and Blanche Isabel Stanton. He lived at Mathern House with his parents, two sisters and a younger brother. His father was a partner in the law firm Morgan Francis, Stanton and Parnall of Newport and Chepstow (the firm still has an office in Welsh Street today) and Claude himself was studying for the Bar. In the spring of 1914 with the rank of Lieutenant he was active in the recruiting campaign of the Regiment: “He was a fluent speaker and his father had good reason to feel proud of him. Tall and well set up . . . .” (Weekly Argus 22nd May 1915).
He must have been one of the most prominent young men in the Chepstow area, for early in 1915 he was appointed to be Clerk to Chepstow Rural District Council, in spite of being away in France – the appointment to take effect when he returned from the War. Claude had joined E Company of the 1st Battalion of the Monmouthshire Regiment when it was first formed as the Territorial unit for Chepstow and left Chepstow with the main Company in August 1914.
Claude had the reputation of being not only talented but a very generous and caring young man. At the beginning of December 1914 he was gazetted Adjutant to the Monmouthshire Regiment and within a few days was promoted to Captain (Capt. Stanton has proved himself a most capable and efficient officer . . . .)
His father died in March 1915 and Claude was not able to return for the funeral. Then as the involvement of the 1st Monmouthshire’s in the War became more intense he wrote to his mother including the famous words quoted in the press report opposite.
A few days later he was caught up in the disaster of May 8th – the desperate defence of the Ypres Salient. During the fighting at close quarters he was last seen wounded in the fire trench (the front one). In the confusion that followed it was hoped that he had been taken prisoner and would survive, but it seems that he died later in the day. His grave is not known and his name is recorded on the Menin Gate Memorial. His medals would be the 1915 Trio.
The memorial tablet in Mathern Church
Extract from the report of the memorial service held in Mathern church from the Weekly Argus of 29th May 1915
Ernest Edmond George Prickett Rifleman 2299 Monmouthshire Regiment
Killed in action 8th May 1915
Weekly Argus June 12th 1915
Ernest was the son of Sidney and Annie Prickett of Mounton. He was a member of the Chepstow Territorials, which formed E Company of the 1st Battalion of the Monmouthshire Regiment. Ernest and his comrades assembled at the Drill Hall, Chepstow, on August 5th 1914, under the leadership of Captain Charles Evill, also of Mounton. Their enthusiastic departure is described in the Weekly Argus extract opposite.
They spent the next few months digging coastal defences in Suffolk, sailed to France in February 1915 and were sent to the front in March. On May 4th they were rested after two weeks of continuous combat in the second battle of Ypres. Casualties had been moderate but only one of the Chepstow men had been injured and spirits were high. A great victory was expected soon.
Then late on the 7th May they were rushed to Frezenberg on the tip of the Ypres Salient – an almost indefensible bulge in the Allied line. They had no air support, little artillery support and were heavily outnumbered but made a heroic stand. At a cost of great suffering they fought an organised retreat and held a straightened line, preventing the fall of Ypres and hence German access to the Channel ports.
About 20 of those who had left Chepstow in such high spirits were killed on that day, including Ernest. The memorial plaque shown opposite was installed in Mounton Church by the parishioners and includes the quotation
“Soon soon to faithful warriors comes their rest
Sweet is the calm of paradise blest”
ERNEST PRICKETT
his memorial plaque in Mounton church
Weekly Argus report of the departure of the 1st Mons on 5th August 1914:
”They assembled at the Drill Hall on Wednesday morning and extraordinary excitement and activity prevailed in the town. Inside the drill Hall all the bustle and haste of the work of preparation went forward smoothly . . . .About 20 extra recruits . . . were enrolled for the stipulated period, and these brought the total strength up to about 120, with Capt Evill in command. . . .
Tremendous enthusiasm prevailed as the hour of their departure approached and the streets were lined with people from all parts of the district. The fife and drum band led the way and en route to the station handkerchiefs were waved and farewells exchanged .The crush at the railway station was enormous and the sight was a memorable one. The Territorials themselves were in high spirits, but there were some touching scenes on the platforms. As the 4.30 steamed away loud cheers were raised by the thousands of people who thronged the station and the approaches.”
and the contrasting testament of a survivor of the terrible 8th of May
Christopher’s death notice in The Weekly Argus and Chepstow Weekly Advertiser of October 21st 1916
Army records show him as born in Chepstow, the son of James & Amelia Luckett of The Row, Shirenewton and a native of Mathern. He enlisted in Llanelli, originally in the 12th Battallion of the Welsh Regiment and later transferred to the 2nd Battalion serving in France.
He died of wounds, most likely in one of the hospitals in Rouen, and was buried in St Sever Cemetery, 2 miles south of Rouen Cathedral, grave reference B16 46.
John was the son of William & Laura Jones of 94 Brecon Road, Hirwain, but enlisted in Chepstow, so presumably had relatives or employment in Mathern.
He was in the 2nd/9th Battalion of the Manchester Regiment and killed fighting in Belgium on the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the 3rd Battle of Ypres. The battle dragged on until November 6th in appalling conditions, by which time Allied casualties were nearly half a million.
Like so many killed in this battle he has no known grave and is listed on the Tyne Cott Memorial to the Missing, situated in the cemetery of the same name, which with 12,000 graves is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the world. He was entitled to War and victory medals.
