Deganwy’s Roll of Honour In April 1955, a special service was held at Deganwy’s All Saint’s church, and a plaque unveiled, to commemorate the lives of the 23 men from the village who died during the Second World War. The memorial tablet was paid for by public subscription and unveiled by Lord Mostyn with the dedication made by the Archdeacon of St Asaph, R H Roberts. Later, in 1959, the name of John, was added after Arthur Heppel Williams’ name at the request of the then vicar, Lewis Edwards. One can only assume that John was the brother of Arthur Williams, but so far, we have drawn a blank as to when and how he died. This paper gives a brief biography of each of the Deganwy men listed on the memorial plaque. There is still much to discover about these extraordinary young men who gave their lives in the Second World War and any information would be gratefully received. I can be contacted at [email protected] Adrian Hughes 1 Richard Charlwood Barker Name Richard Charlwood Barker Rank Sergeant 1006907 Regiment Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve – 75 Squadron Died 15/10/1941 aged 20 Next of Kin George and Annie Barker, Thornville, St George’s Drive, Deganwy Memorial Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Richard was born in 1921 and educated at Cheltenham College. He enlisted into the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in June 1940 and after training was attached to bomber command. On the 15th October 1941, Sergeant Barker was the pilot of a Wellington bomber that took off for a bombing raid over Cologne, Germany. With a payload of high explosive and incendiary bombs, the plane was shot down north of Dusseldorf and although initially posted as “missing in action” it was later confirmed that Barker was “missing, believed killed in action”. Two of the crew did survive and were taken as Prisoners of War but the Deganwy lad and three of his crew were killed. 2 Richard Stephen Brown Name Richard Stephen Brown Rank Sub-Lieutenant Regiment Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve – HMS Wivern Died 14/05/1940 aged 21 Next of kin Harold Sutton and Margaret Brown, The Chase, Gannock Park, Deganwy Memorial Buried at sea and commemorated on Portsmouth Naval Memorial Known as Dick, he was educated at Sandringham School, Southport before his parents moved to Deganwy and he then attended Rydal between 1933 and 1937 –here he was in the swimming and shooting teams and in the cricket 2nd XI. Like his father, who was Commodore of Conway Yacht Club, Dick was a keen sailor and won numerous prizes with “Acushla” the Conwy One Design dinghy that he had built by Riley’s at Deganwy Dock in 1936. After initially taking up insurance with the same Birkenhead company that his father was chairman of, Dick joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve a month after the outbreak of war. He trained at Hove, Weymouth and Plymouth and then was appointed to destroyer, HMS Wivern, on April 11th 1940. He was killed just 5 weeks later. In May ‘40, HMS Wivern was on convoy and patrol duty in the North Sea when the German’s invaded the Low Countries. She was ordered to assist in the evacuation of British and Dutch troops from the Hook of Holland but while doing so came under attack from German bombers and a 500lb bomb hit the destroyer killing Sub Lt Brown and 28 of his fellow sailors. 3 Peter Buckley Holmes Name Peter Buckley Holmes Rank Flying Officer (Navigator) 90038 Regiment Royal Air Force (Auxiliary Air Force) Died 23/01/1941 aged 32 Next of kin Only son of Buckley and Ethel Holmes, Gannock Park; husband of Dorothy Holmes (nee Newman) of Belfast. Memorial Buried Drumbeg (St Patrick) Church of Ireland Churchyard Born in Deganwy in 1909 Peter was educated at Malvern College and Queen’s College, Oxford graduating with a first-class honours degree in law. He rowed in the college boat. His main recreation, however, was woodwork, and this became an absorbing hobby with which he took infinite pains, producing useful as well as ornamental work. On leaving Oxford he entered the Northern Ireland civil service and was Secretary to W B Spender, the Ulster Minister of Finance. In 1935 he joined the Auxiliary Air Force and was commissioned in 502 Ulster Squadron. He was called up in August 1939 and became a Flying Officer in the R.A.F. His Squadron was equipped with Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bombers for long- range convoy escort work and was attached to Coastal Command. Their main role was to provide escort cover for Atlantic convoys. On 23rd January 1941, Holmes and his crew took off from RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland to provide cover for convoy HG50 which was en-route from Gibraltar to Liverpool. After escorting the convoy without incident for three hours, they became lost in bad weather and flew too far east resulting in the aircraft crashing into high ground above Balmavicar on the Mull of Kintyre. All 5 crewmen on board were killed. In a 1942 copy of the North Wales Weekly News I found this article about his Will. “Flying Officer, A P Buckley-Holmes, only son of Mr and Mrs Buckley Holmes, Bron Llan, Gannock Park, who was killed in an air crash last year, left £200 and other property to his wife, and the residue of his £5,465 estate upon trust for her during widowhood, “provided that if, during that time, that standard price of a quarter loaf in London shall exceed 2/6, his trustees shall pay the entire estate for her own use.” It then went on to mention that the price of a quarter loaf in 1942 was 8 pence, which had remained unchanged since September 1939.” 4 Hugh Caradoc Davies Name Hugh Cardaoc Davies Rank Fusilier 14731130 Regiment Royal Welch Fusiliers – 4th battalion Died 25/04/1945 aged 30 Next of kin Son of Hugh and Ellen Davies of Deganwy; husband of Vera Davies of Dolgarrog Memorial Becklinghen War Cemetery Edwin Davies Name Edwin Davies Rank Driver T/168429 Regiment 12/09/1944 aged 27 Died Royal Army Service Corps Next of kin Son of John and Mary Davies Memorial Brookwood Edward Willoughby Gardner Name Edward William Willoughby Gardner Rank Captain 35506 Regiment King’s Shropshire Light Infantry (Formerly Royal Signals) Died 18/10/1945 aged 37 Next of kin Only son of Dr Willoughby and Florence Gardner; husband of Nancy Gardner of The Dene, Caterham Memorial Rangoon Memorial Like his father, Edward attended Rugby School and then Hertford College, Oxford. He read the Classics and graduated in 1931. He took up teaching and for many years was classical master at Dulwich College Preparatory School. In 1931, Edward married Nancy Barton of Llys Iolyn, Gannock Park at a ceremony at All Saints Church. They had one son, John. At the outbreak of the war, Edward enlisted in the Royal Signals but with his aptitude for languages was commissioned as an officer and transferred to the 9th Jat Regiment in the British Indian Army and appointed teacher of Urdu in the Officer Training School. Edward was never happier than when in his native Welsh countryside and returned when he could to walk the mountains and fish the streams. Ironically it was his love of fishing that ultimately cost him his life as he is believed to have drowned in the Narbada River near Mhow in Central India while fishing. 5 Elias Gwynedd Hughes Name Elias Gwynedd Hughes Rank Fusilier 4209236 Regiment Royal Welch Fusiliers Died 10/11/1944 Next of kin Son of Evan and Ellen Hughes of 7 Park Terrace Deganwy; husband of Joyce Marion Hughes of Shirley, Birmingham. Memorial Buried Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery Harold Frederick Hughes 6 Name Harold Frederick Hughes Rank Leading Aircraftman 1107672 Regiment Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Died 07/09/1943 aged 21 Next of kin Son of Hugh and Fannie Hughes of 1, Park Terrace, Deganwy Memorial Buried Catania War Cemetery As a boy, Harold attended Deganwy National School and on Sundays attended Sunday School at Peniel Chapel. A talented singer and entertainer, Harold regularly performed at Eisteddfodau and concerts held at the old church house. After finishing school, he became an apprentice at Hutchinson and Wilde, the Austin Garage in Craig y Don. In 1940, aged just 18, Harold volunteered for the RAF and after a period of basic training joined 654 Squadron. On the 20th February 1943, Harold boarded the Dutch troop carrier the “New Holland” at Gourock in Scotland and set sailed to Algiers. At the docks, there were dozens of children selling oranges, tangerines and lemons. It was from one of these fruit sellers that Harold bought a lemon and sent it home to his mother in Deganwy. This was later auctioned and raised 6 guineas for the ‘Wings for Victory’ national savings campaign. Harold and 654 Squadron fought their way across North Africa seeing most action at Enfidaville in Tunisia. Here they were supporting a battalion of Maori infantry serving within the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. After the Allies victory in North Africa, Harold was immediately sent to Sicily in July 1943. The Sicilian campaign was fast moving and Harold spent most of the battle servicing planes in a vineyard in the central mountains. As the campaign ended Harold headed east, helping to sort out a landing strip on the side of Mount Etna. The capture of Sicily was seen by Churchill as the prelude to an assault on the Italian mainland and this was launched on September 3rd 1943.