Paving stone tribute to hero of Passchendaele
A HERO of one of the bloodiest battles of World War One has been honoured with a memorial stone a century after he died.
Corporal James Llewellyn Davies, of the 13th Battalion The Royal Welsh Fusiliers, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross in 1917 for “most conspicuous bravery” after single-handedly taking a German gun placement in the first few hours of the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium on July 31.
A memorial paving stone to honour Cpl Davies was unveiled in the centre of his home village of Nantymoel in the Ogmore Valley on Sunday in the presence of family members.
Cpl Davies was 31 when he succumbed to his wounds on the battlefield after the brave act which won him the highest honour for gallantry that a British and Commonwealth serviceman can achieve.
The stone was unveiled by the Lord Lieutenant of Mid Glamorgan, Kate Thomas, in the presence of family members including his grandson Ken Davies, 78, a former gold miner, teacher and member of the local historical society.
“I’m proud it’s there,” Mr Davies said.
“They just did what had to be done. He said that in the letter home the day before it happened: ‘I think I’m going over the top tomorrow, and if it happens it will have been for King and country’.”
Also present at the commemoration was Cpl Davies’ nephew, Ken Llewellyn Davies.
King George V presented Cpl Davies’ son, William John, with his father’s Victoria Cross when he was just 11 years old on October 20, 1917, at Buckingham Palace.
The Western Mail reported: “His Majesty shook hands with Mrs Davies and also with the little boy, who drew himself up, clicked his heels together, and after the King’s handshake, proudly and smartly saluted. His Majesty smiled and patted the lad kindly on his shoulder.”
For many years a lifesized portrait of Ogmore Valley’s only VC winner was in the Berwyn centre, a former workingmen’s hall, but the piece was lost when the centre was demolished, as it had been painted directly on the wall.
Cpl James VC is buried in Canada Farm Cemetery, Elverdinghe, Belgium.
An extract from The Royal Welsh Fusiliers war diaries explains how the 13th Battalion, part of the 38th Division, was held up by German gun placements at Pilckem village in what is known as the Battle for Pilckem Ridge.
One was a conventional pill box – concrete machine-gun shelter – and the other had been built into the walls of a house.
Several attempts had been made to outflank the pill box but each effort resulted in men being killed.
Then Cpl Davies, who had been a miner at the Wyndham Colliery, advanced by himself, was hit, but rushed the pill box, bayoneting one man and the second threw up his hands.
The Corner House gun placement was also causing casualties and Cpl Davies took charge, leading men forward to take the German garrison.
He had again been wounded but continued and crawled forward, succeeding in spotting and shooting a sniper.
Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, was fought from July 31 to November 1917 and became infamous not only for the huge number of casualties – more than half a million Allies and German – but also for the huge amount of mud on the battlefields caused by weeks of rain which was said to have swallowed men whole.
WWI poet Siegfried Sassoon, an officer in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, famously described Passchendaele as “hell”.
Cpl James was among three Welshmen awarded the VC and among more than 4,000 Welsh soldiers killed or injured on the first day at Passchendaele.