■ Those who died on Armistice Day
They had survived until the very last day of the war - but they wouldn't live to see another. David Ottewell and Steffan Rhys look at the Welsh soldiers who died on Armistice Day 1918, so tragically close to peace
THERE were 14 of them in all. Fourteen men from Wales. They had survived until the very last day of the war.
But they would not live to see another.
It was the day of the Armistice, the day a treaty signed in Paris brought to end fighting on land, sea and air after four years, three months and one week of the First World War.
But in a brutal demonstration of the sheer scale of the killing during World War One, a total of 910 Allied soldiers lost their lives that day before peace was declared at 11am.
Few died in battle. Many had already been shipped back home, only to succumb to their wounds. Others had fallen to the deadly Spanish flu that was sweeping the depleted continent. The story of how Spanish flu wiped out 11,000 people in Wales at the time, killing entire families, is here.
One of the Welshmen named below, able seaman Richard Morgan, drowned off the coast of Plymouth. He is buried in a tiny rural cemetery beside a sixth century church in Kilgwrrwg, Monmouthshire.
Another, John Francis Coster-Edwards, died from wounds sustained in battle aged just 21 and, like four other Welsh soldiers who died on November 11, 1918, is buried in the Terlincthun British Cemetery near Boulogne-sur-Mer, south of Calais. There is a memorial to him in the cloisters at Eton College.
One of the youngest to die that day was Iorwerth Davies, a 19-year-old private in the South Wales Borderers. His parents lived in Australia Terrace in Trevor, Llangollen.
Eleven other soldiers from Wales died on the same day. In all, nearly 16 million people across the world died during World War One.
It uses data from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission,
which holds the records of more than one million deaths among the Allied forces alone. The Welsh soldiers who died on the last day of World War One
■ John Francis Coster-Edwards: A 21-year-old captain in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and listed as the son of James and Laura Ellen Loftus Coster-Edwards, of Bryn Howel, Llangollen. He is buried in the Terlincthun British Cemetery near Boulogne-sur-Mer, south of Calais.
■ CA Cooil: A 27-year-old captain in the Royal Garrison Artillery, and listed as the son of Mrs E Cooil, of 2 Orme View, Bangor and the late CC Cooil. He is buried at Glanadda Cemetery, Bangor.
■ Iorwerth Davies: A 19-year-old private in the South Wales Borderers, and listed as the son of Robert and Catherine Davies, of 4 Australia Terrace, Trevor, Llangollen. He is buried in the Terlincthun British Cemetery near Boulogne-sur-Mer, south of Calais.
■ RH Harvey: A private in the Royal Army Medical Corps, and listed as the husband of MJ Harvey, of 5 Malipant Street, Hafod, Swansea. His age is not given. He is buried in Cwmgelli cemetery, Swansea.
■ John Stoneham: A 19-year-old
private in the Royal Irish Regiment, and listed as the son of Joseph and Sarah Stoneham, of 3 Railway Terrace, Blaengarw, Bridgend. He is buried in Nouvelles Communal Cemetery.
■ Aneurin Owen Roberts: A 22-yearold private in the Machine Gun Corps (Infantry). He is listed as the son of John and Kate Selina Roberts, of Old Post Office, Glasfryn, Cerrigydrudion, Corwen. He is buried in the Busigny Communal Cemetery, between Amiens in France and the Belgian border.
■ Richard Morgan: A 26-year-old able seaman in the Royal Navy, and listed as the son of Albert and Mary Ann Morgan of Dorlans, Kilgwrrwg, near Chepstow. He is buried in the Church of the Holy Cross in Kilgwrrwg.
■ Rowland Williams: A 26-year-old gunner in the Royal Field Artillery, and listed as the husband of Rose E Williams, of Oonavara, Rhosneigr, Anglesey. He is buried in the Terlincthun British Cemetery near Boulognesur-Mer, south of Calais.
■ James Tod: A 27-year-old sapper in the Royal Engineers, and listed as the son of Margaret and the late John Tod and husband of Emily M Tod, of Wern Tower, Pontfadog, Wrexham. He was born at Llwynycil, Chirk. He is buried in St Mary Churchyard, Chirk.
■ Thomas Lewis: A 28-year-old private in the East Yorkshire Regiment. He is listed as the son of the late Richard and Margaret Lewis, of Berwyn Terrace, Llangynog, between Oswestry and Bala. He is buried in St Melangell Church, Llangynog.
■ David William Evans: A 32-yearold private in the Welsh Regiment. He is listed as the husband of Mary Margaret Joseph (formerly Evans) of 1 Cairo Street, Trealaw, Rhondda. He is buried at All Saints Church in Orpington, south-east London.
■ T W Morgan: A 34-year-old gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery. He was the husband of Susie Louise Morgan, of 3 Herbert Terrace, Aberavon. He is buried at Brebieres British Cemetery, near Arras, France.
■ Henry Godfrey Thomas Leigh: A 34-year-old second lieutenant in the Labour Corps. He was the son of William Watkin Leigh and Jessie Louisa Leigh, of Llansannor House, Cowbridge. He is buried in the Terlincthun British Cemetery near Boulognesur-Mer, south of Calais.
■ J Roberts: A 30-year-old lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery. He is listed as the brother of Margaret Roberts, of Yspytty, Betws-y-coed. He is buried in the Terlincthun British Cemetery near Boulogne-sur-Mer, south of Calais.