Mathern Community Council

Book of Remembrance

Second Edition 11.11.2001

Research at the time by Councillors John Florida and Margaret Cracknell

Service records consultant Gareth Jones

Edit and printing John Nettleship

Commissioned by Mathern Community Council

for the Millennium Year 2000

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Mathern Community Council

BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE

Second edition 11th November 2001

Edited by John Nettleship

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ABOUT THIS BOOK

Those killed in the wars did not survive to tell their own story or to complete the contribution they would have made to the community.  Hence this record has been started so that those of us here now are more aware of them and of what they lost for the benefit of those who remain.

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It is in essence a Scrap Book.  Pages are being corrected and updated as more information comes to light.  Copies of photographs etc. are added as they are made available.

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Military records have been studied by Gareth Jones of Caerwent, which gave us a good start.  His material has been combined with that provided by Councillors John Florida and Margaret Cracknell who carried out research at the reference library at Newport Museum, Brecon Military Museum and Chepstow Museum.  They also issued appeals for information from relatives, friends and others (see acknowledgements page at the back). The resources of Chepstow Museum have been combed for us by the Curator, Ann Rainsbury, and she has also helped with scrutiny of the text.

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Reference copies are kept in the three Parish Churches of our Community.  Short runs amounting to about 20 copies have been printed by computer.  N.B. the computer ink is not waterproof!  Further copies are available on compact disc with permission to print therefrom.  The material here should not be copied without permission.

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FOREWORD:

By Lieutenant-Colonel A. R. EVILL

There may be very few, who are alive today and who remember the two World Wars of the 20^th Century, but there are many deeply interested in just how these two wars affected those then living in their local community.

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I believe that this Book of Remembrance does much to illustrate those times, particularly the loss of relatives and friends.  It is a tragedy of war that it often takes the best of us, such as my old friend and neighbour Ian Liddell V.C.

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I was born at Brynderwen, the youngest of a family of five.  I remember when in the early 1920s, aged 6, asking my father about the First World War and he said that after a very fierce battle, he doubted that there was a family in the local Newport area who was not mourning the loss of a relative or friend; it was the 2^nd Battle of Ypres on the 8^th of May 1915.

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While it is true that in those days of the two World Wars, families were more static than nowadays, but there are many these days moving into an area, who will be interested in its history and so I am confident that this informative and fascinating Book of Remembrance will be much appreciated by both old family residents and also newcomers of an enquiring mind.

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If you can offer any corrections, further information or material, please contact us:

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Copyright rests with the owners of original photographs and materials