Summary
- 955 – Men identified with service number (+2 this month)
- 748 – Confirmed ’08 service numbers (+2)
- 88 – Men identified without service number (+1)
- 59 – Portraits (+5)
- 51 – Descendants contacted (+4)
- 39 – Profiles drafted (+8)
As we approach Remembrance Day, for the first time I have put a direct focus on researching the Brigade’s casualties. At a high level, it is quite noticeable how few casualties the Brigade suffered in action as opposed to through accidents or sickness. I will need to do more research, but this may be related to the campaigns the men largely fought in. That said, every casualty was a man who did not return home to his family at the end of the War and every story is sad and humbling. There are some examples of the most recent research below.
In other news, the site has now had 5000 hits. Its small numbers compared to the big websites, but I never envisaged so many hits in the first year, so thank you.
Other than that, it has been another month of solid, if not spectacular progress. I’m really pleased with the way the portrait gallery is coming along with 59 portraits now uploaded – I’ve said it before and I will no doubt say it again, it’s my favourite page, seeing the men lined up again, side-by-side, after 100 years.
New Profiles Uploaded
I’ve been doing a lot of writing this month and uploaded 8 new profiles, every one an interesting piece of research, pulling together the fragments of surviving information.
I made contact with the family of 1016, AE Smallcombe who kindly shared some lovely photos and a very interesting tale. Arthur was the son of John Smallcombe, who was made famous later in his life by none other than Dylan Thomas, who immortalised him in one of his poems as Old Smalley, the park-keeper of Cwmdonkin Park. As the story goes, Thomas took pleasure in raising his blood pressure.
Sadly, Arthur was killed in action on 3 November 1917 at the Battle of KUWEILFEH. Due to detail provided in the Brigade War Diary, it is possible to describe the circumstances in which he lost his life.
Arthur has no known grave and is remembered on the Jerusalem War Memorial.
I also exchanged messages with the Great Niece of 725679, Bob Beynon. Bob was born in the Gower and enlisted in the Brigade in July 1915. Thanks to information provided by his family, we know that he served in Egypt, returning to Swansea 6 months after the end of the War. Following the War he emigrated to Canada, returning home briefly in 1926 to marry his wife in Kettering – he possibly met her when the Brigade was nearby early in the War.
Bob’s brother Jack also served in the Candian Expeditionary Force. Jack travelled to the UK in 1916 on Her Majesty’s Transport 2810, better known as the SS Olympic, sister ship of the Titanic.
And finally, I am currently working with the family of 1571, Edwin Evans. Edwin enlisted in late 1915 and following training went to Salonika where he served with B Battery, 98 Brigade. Like many of his comrades, Edwin became unwell with Malaria and was evacuated to a hospital at Kalamaria, home of the British Saolnika Force.
Edwin died from the effects of Malaria on 19 October 1917 and was buried at the Mikra British Cemetary. His family still have the memorial scroll sent to them shortly after the War.
Next month
First things first, I plan to fill in some of the gaps in the 1908 numbering sequence. Thanks to the 1917 numbers, I can be quite certain on many of the 1908 numbers (even if I have no direct evidence), so I plan to add those numbers in – but I will mark them with an asterix to make it clear that they are assumed.
And after a lot of thinking, I’m going to have a change in focus for a month or two.
The site has now been up and running for almost a year, but I haven’t revisited the technical side for over 9 months. So, over the next few weeks I plan to improve the site technically. The 2 main aspects I want to address are:
- I want to make it easier to find the profiles that I have written. I know how to find them, but a new-comer to the site would have little chance.
- The image library needs to be completely updated. I want visitors to be able to search by location, date, subject to name a few.
Thanks for reading.
