Welsh rugby heroes who fell in WWI are honoured in France
WELSH international rugby players who were killed in World War One have been honoured in an emotional ceremony in Laon, France.
The President of the Wales Rugby Union Dennis Gethin flew to France to lay a wreath.
Fourteen Wales internationals died in the conflict – most of them on the battlefields of Northern France.
Mr Gethin said: “It was a very moving occasion and it was a great honour to be here and one my wife Jan and I will never forget.
“There were 14 Welsh internationals killed in World War One – they were all volunteers.
“It was a privilege to attend such an emotional ceremony and remember the sacrifices of those who lost their lives.
“My own father fought here in France in the war and I’m currently investigating exactly where he served.
“He survived the war and became a coal miner and he died in 1962.”
The ceremony included the unveiling of a new statue – created by French former rugby star Jean-Pierre Rives – to honour all rugby internationals who lost their lives in the conflict.
The war claimed the lives of several South Wales rugby internationals, including Grangetown-born star David “Dai” Westacott, who was killed in action in 1917.
His story – and that of the other Wales internationals who died in the conflict – is recounted in Gwyn Prescott’s book Call Them To Remembrance.
Despite being a family man with four children, 32-year-old docker Westacott volunteered early in the war, enlisting in the Gloucestershire Regiment. He took part in the Battle of Aubers Ridge and the Battle of Loos and was repatriated for a few months to recover from shellfire wounds.
“After bravely suffering so much hardship and surviving several major battles, Private David Westacott was killed in a support trench by a random shell,” said Gwyn.
Other former internationals who died included Ferndale-born Richard Thomas – who played for Bridgend and Glamorgan Police, David Watts from Maesteg, Horace Wyndham Thomas from Pentyrch, and John Lewis Williams from Whitchurch, Cardiff.
To mark the remembrance ceremony event organisers invited clubs from the UK including Cowbridge from the Vale of Glamorgan.
Their boys watched a veterans game featuring several former internationals including Serge Betsen.
Event organiser John Dennison paid tribute to the Cowbridge youngsters.
“They were an absolute credit to their club and country,” he said.