Valleys Blitz memorial is approved
A MEMORIAL to remember those killed in the Blitz bombing of a Rhondda village has been given the go-ahead.
The Cwmparc Blitz Memorial Project has been given permission to build a memorial on land off Park Road in Cwmparc near Treorchy in memory of those killed during a night when the area was bombed in the Second World War.
It will also be dedicated to servicemen and women from the area who died fighting for their country in the world wars and other conflicts.
On April 29, 1941, Cwmparc and Treorchy were subjected to a bombing raid by the German Luftwaffe which saw 27 people killed.
It was described at the time as the single biggest loss of life in the Rhondda, where children were sent as part of evacuation of big towns and cities.
The youngest person to be killed was just 18 months old.
Councillor Sera Evans, who represents Treorchy on the council, said it would ensure the close-knit community and the families of those whose lives were lost are able to commemorate the event.
Cllr Evans said: “It will be a welldesigned fitting memorial. It will be in keeping with the local area and will enable all future generations to remember those killed.”
The memorial will be made up of a single square column located in the centre of a Celtic cross.
The cross will join the public footpath to the south, directly opposite the junction of Park Road and Ocean Street, and would feature stone bench seats.
The plaque at the front of the monument facing Park Road will be inscribed with the individual names of each of those killed in the bombing.
The plaque on the left-hand side as viewed from Park Road will bear a generic inscription paying tribute to the servicemen from the village who sacrificed their lives in both world wars and in other conflicts.
The right-hand side of the monument as viewed from Park Road will bear a generic message of gratitude to all who have donated and contributed to the memorial project.
All inscriptions, where possible, will be in Welsh and English and will be in gold lettering.
Reacting to the planning committee’s decision to approve the memorial, Robert Leighton Davies from the Cwmparc Blitz Memorial Project said: “The construction, at long last, of this strikinglydesigned memorial will bring a great deal of joy and satisfaction to so many people, not just those from Cwmparc but from much further afield.
“The fundraising donations which we have received over the past 14 months have emanated not just from Cwmparc, Treorchy and other parts of Wales but also from various locations in the rest of the UK and even from the USA, Canada and Australia.
“The memorial will rectify a sad omission, namely the absence from the village of a publicly accessible feature which will justly commemorate not only the deaths of the total of 27 men, women and children who were horrifically killed when the bombs fell on Cwmparc on the night of April 29, 1941, but also the debt owed to the 100 and more servicemen from Cwmparc who sacrificed their lives in both world wars and in other more limited conflicts of the past which involved the armed forces of this country.”