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Cowbridge

This war memorial consists of a life sized marble figure, approximately 2 metres in height, of a soldier in cap with his head bowed and hands resting on his reversed rifle in a mourning pose. The base, column and plinth are constructed of limestone and the inscriptions carved into the base are dedicated to the men of Cowbridge who lost their lives fighting in World War I, World War II and subsequest conflicts. The memorial stands outside Cowbridge Town Hall.

In 2013, War Memorials Trust offered a grant of £2,290 towards the stabilisation of the memorial. It is suspected that the memorial was hit by a vehicle, after which it was discovered that the base of the memorial was not secured to the foundation and the separate elements were not fixed together with any internal fixings. War Memorials Trust only recommend dismantling of a memorial as a last resort, as we have seen instances in the past where, following reassembly of the memorial there have been structural integrity issues and long term stability problems. For this reason we encourage custodians to adopt less invasive approaches of repair where feasible. In this instance the movement of the memorial from its original position along two planes was an immediate cause for concern as it was unclear whether any sections were pinned together. With the memorial being so close to the road, it could be extremely dangerous if the marble statue were to become unstable or fall. To undertake these works, the memorial was first photographed for recording purposes then careful dismantling could commence. The statue was safely strapped up using support belts and was vertically lifted from its base and laid down for storage to prevent any damage. The base, column and plinth were also lifted individually from the foundation and carefully stored. Dismantling of the memorial confirmed that there were no fixings between each section and nothing to secure it to the ground. The memorial was then re-assembled and internal stainless steel dowels were used to secure the memorial with a lime mortar in between each section for additional strength. Throughout the process the memorial was photographed for recording purposes.

Knowledge about the construction of the memorial is scant; the UK National Inventory of War Memorials dates it to circa 1921.

On the face towards the road the inscription reads:

To the memory of
the men of this borough
who volunteered for active service
and gave their lives for King and
Country in the great European war
1914 – 1919

and the names of the soldiers are inscribed below this.

On the opposite face there is the inscription

And
to the memory of
those of this borough
who gave their lives
in the Second World War
1939 – 1945

and again, the names are listed below the inscription.

The names from the First World War are

Lieut. T.E.H. Torney, 3rd Welsh Regiment
2nd Lieut. M.J. Marsden, M.G.C.
2nd Lieut. W.H.O. Moynan, S.W.B.
2nd Lieut. W.D. Owen, 4th Welsh Reg.
2nd Lieut. Joshua W. Payne, D.L.I.
Sergt. Cecil Chard, 4th South Stafd
Sergt. David Fitzgerald, S.W.B.
Sergt. Fred C. Lord, Gren. Guards
Sergt. Arthur Stockwood, Rif. Brig.
Corp. William Burley, 15th Welsh Reg.
Lanc. Corp. A.W.Jones, 5th Welsh
Lanc. Corp. Ronald Wall, Nthbd Fus.

Privates

William Archer, R.W.F
David Robert Bond, R.F.A
Bassett J. Davies, 10th Welsh Reg.
Albert Gibbs, 16th Welsh Reg.
Arthur Gibbs, Loyal North Lancs
William Eton Lane, S.W.B
Charles Lewis, Tanks Corps
Arthur Miles, 1st Mon. Reg.
Richard Morgan, Austn I.F.
Alexander Pates, 2nd Welsh Reg.
David R. Spencer, Mer. Mar.
William Trew, 1st Leicester Reg.
William Willment, Royal Sussex
Herbert Williams, 12th Glos. Reg.
Ralph S. Goulden, R.G.A.
Lanc. Corp. S. Hayward, 14th R.W.F.

The name of Stoker Benjamin Hayward R.N. has now been added at the bottom

From the Second World War those listed are

Royal Navy

Petty Officer David Morgan John

His Majesty’s Army

Lieut. John David Gwyn, Welsh Reg.
Lieut. George Thomas J. Pratt, Royal Fus.
Pte. Percival Mervyn Seviour Welsh Reg.
Pte. Emlyn Williams R.A.O.C.

Royal Air Force

Pilot Officer David Roy Watts
Sergt. Maynard H. Burston
Sergt. Gerald V. Payne

Merchant Navy

Chief Engineer Thomas J. Richards

The stories of many of the men commemorated can be uncovered.

Men who fell in several of the well known battles of the First World War are commemorated at Cowbridge.

• Pte. Alexander Pates died in the very early stages of the war at the First Battle of Ypres in October 1914, after the German advance into France and Belgium had been halted and the two sides were outflanking each others’ trenches in the “Race to the Sea”.
• Lance Corp. Jones died during the Gallipoli campaign; his regiment had sailed from Devonport in July 1915 to reinforce the last Allied offensive of the campaign. The gunfire during the battle was so heavy that it set the undergrowth alight, and many wounded men were burnt to death, unable to escape.
• Four men on the memorial – Ptes Lane and Gibbs and Sgts Stockwood and Lane - died during the infamous Somme campaign.
• Second Lieuts Moynan and Marsden and Pte Davies all died during engagements in the Third Battle of Ypres, or Passchendaele, in the summer and autumn of 1917.
• In the spring of 1918 the Germans launched a massive offensive in an effort to end the war on the Western Front. By July 1918 the Germans had created a number of salients on the Western Front, but their army was exhausted and overstretched and the Allies led a successful counter attack at the Second Battle of the Marne. This was followed by the Hundred Days Offensive which led to the end of the war. Ptes Trew, Lewis, Archer and Bond, Corporal Burley, Lieut. Torney and Second Lieut. Owen all died during this phase of the war, while the Allies were counter attacking.

While the majority of the men commemorated at Cowbridge from the First World War were in the army, the Second World War names are spread between the services to include men from the Royal Air Force and the Mercantile and Royal Navies.

• Three of the men on the memorial were airmen, two of whom died during bombing raids over Germany in 1942-3. Pilot Officer Watts, was a member of a reconnaissance squadron, guarding the coast against German landings. Sergt Payne is buried in a village churchyard in the Ardennes, north eastern France. He is one of seven airmen buried there; five from the RAF and two from the Royal Canadian Air Force. These men were the entire crew of a Stirling R9153 from RAF Bourn in Cambridgeshire which crashed in the Ardennes on the night of 28/29 August 1942 during a sortie to bomb Nuremberg. The cause of the crash was not established.
• Sergt. Burston died during a bombing raid he and six fellow aircrew were carrying out against the German city of Krefeld, situated just to the west of the Rhine. Their Lancaster bomber crashed north of Boxtel in the Netherlands. They are buried in a cemetery in Eindhoven ; one member of the crew has no known grave. The squadron was based at Scampton, Lincolnshire; the same base as the Dambusters flew from.

Returning to those serving in the army who are recorded amongst the World War II dead.

• Pte. Williams served in the North Africa campaign, and died in October 1941, a time of stalemate between the Allied and Axis forces which immediately predated Operation Crusader and the relief of the siege of Tobruk.
• Two of the other soldiers on the memorial died in the Italian Campaign which followed the Allied victory in North Africa. The division in which Lieut. Gwyn served landed at Salerno in Italy on 9th September 1943. Within six weeks the whole of the Italian peninsula south of Termoli was in Allied hands, and from there the fighting took the form of a slow slog northwards as the Germans retreated behind a series of planned lines. It was during this phase of the fighting that Lieut. Gwyn died. Lieut. Pratt was a member of the 2nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers who took part in the Battle of Monte Cassino (January – May 1944).

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM2758
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 6679

War Memorials Online: 116600

For more information about 16 Squadron RAF
For more information about 15 Squadron RAF

If you have a concern about this memorial please contact the Trust on conservation@warmemorials.org

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