Village honours VC hero who ‘died for King and country’ with memorial stone
A hero of one of the bloodiest battles of World War One has been honoured with a memorial stone.
Corporal James Llewellyn Davies, of the 13th Battalion The Royal Welsh Fusiliers, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for “most conspicuous bravery” after single-handedly taking a German gun placement at Passchendaele.
A memorial paving stone to honour Cpl Davies was unveiled yesterday in Nantymoel, in the Ogmore Valley, in the presence of family members.
Cpl Davies was 31 when he succumbed to his wounds the day 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 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 life-sized 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.