CELEBRATING YOUR PROJECTS
First World War love letters are the inspiration for a Welsh village’s community project. Alan Crosby finds out more
The Welsh village commemorating a love affair ruined by the First World War
Personal stories, personal tragedies... we see so many terrible statistics of casualties in the First World War, but of course every experience was intensely personal for individuals and families. As family and local historians research and reconstruct soldiers’ lives we may have to rely on oral history, newspaper reports, military records and the names carved on memorials. But sometimes there are precious first-hand sources, such as letters and diaries, that give a perspective from the soldier himself.
Gwent Archives in Ebbw Vale has recently received £ 9,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a project called ‘Sharing Private O’Brien’, based on the former mining village of Abersychan in the valley between Pontypridd and Blaenavon. It focuses on a series of letters written by Private William O’Brien to his sweetheart, Rose Curtis. Now held by the archives, the correspondence was discovered quite by chance. Joan Nash and her husband were clearing his old family home when she came across a bundle of letters from 1915, tucked away under some blouses in the drawer of a dressing table. She began reading them, and was intensely moved.
William was born in Newport in May 1895, and was working as a police constable in Abersychan when he joined the 3rd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards in November 1915. Rose saw him off on the train at Pentwyn Halt: he later wrote how “the lady who thought we were brother and sister would be surprised if she were to see us in a couple of years’ time when I hope we will be better than Brother & Sister” (unless, he feared, she might get tired of waiting). He wrote most of the letters while he was training in Britain and then serving in France. Sadly, though, William never came back to the valley or to Rose: working as a stretcher-bearer, he was killed in action in France on 3 August 1917.
The project is enabling local people to participate in a series of events and activities commemorating William and other men from Abersychan, as well as to learn more about an ordinary soldier’s experiences. Schoolchildren are creating two animated films based on William’s letters and recalling his life and Rose’s during the First World War. Adult volunteers will be researching a guided walk of Abersychan using the documents. And, as part of the project, young people are going to create a roll of honour, commemorating the sacrifice of those from the village who gave their lives during the conflict.
The letters and other First World War-related documents are crucial for understanding our ancestors’ experiences on the home front as well as on the front line, and for understanding the importance of commemorating the fallen for the communities that lost so many young people. All of the information produced by the volunteer projects – films, images, education packs and the roll of honour – is being made available for wider public access, so others can share, commemorate and find further information about the lives of the people of Abersychan.
Commenting on the award, Tony Hopkins, the county archivist for Gwent, said that they were “thrilled to have received the support of the National Lottery for this exciting and innovative project”.
“William O’Brien’s experience of the Great War was similar to many thousands of soldiers,” he added. “What is remarkable about William is that his story is documented in the vivid and poignant letters he exchanged with his sweetheart. Through them the project will bring the war and wartime Abersychan to life. ‘Sharing Private O’Brien’ centres on one soldier, but it commemorates the sacrifice of all who gave up their lives for their country.”
The letters are crucial for understanding ancestors’ experiences on the home front