Ronald Noel Kingdon

Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), 12^th Battalion

There were no military burials at Bethel Welsh Congregational Chapelyard in 1943, but the following year saw two young servicemen laid to rest. The first was Fusilier Ronald Noel Kingdon

Family Background

Ronald was the only child of Percival John Kingdon and Jeannie Elizabeth Irvine, of Lonlas, Skewen.

1911 Census

His father, Percival, had grown up in Brynmill, Swansea. The 1911 Census records him at his parents’ home, 25 Park Place, where his father, Noel Kingdon, then 41, worked as a tailor, and his mother, Eva, 45, kept house. At that time, Percival was 13, with a younger sister, Doris, aged 6.

1921 Census

Jeannie Elizabeth Irvine was born in 1890 in Carlisle. By the time of the 1921 Census, following their marriage, Percival and Jeannie were living at 25 Park Place, Brynmill. Percival, then 24, was employed as a railway signalman with the Port Talbot Railway & Dock Company, while Jeannie, 31, kept house. Their only child, Ronald, was just one year old.

1939 Register

By the 1939 Register, the family had moved to 11 Fothergill Road, Neath, where Percival and Jeannie remained during the war years.

Military Service

Ronald enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), serving with the 12^th Battalion. Like many young men of his generation, his life was shaped by duty and the demands of wartime service.

Death and Burial

South Wales Daily Post

Ronald Noel Kingdon
Bethel Welsh Congregational Chapelyard
credit - findagrave

On 18^th April 1944, Ronald died at the age of 23. His body was brought home to Swansea, and he was laid to rest at Bethel Welsh Congregational Chapelyard. His funeral was reported in the South Wales Daily Post, marking the grief felt by both family and community.

Legacy

Ronald’s grave at Bethel represents the cost of the war carried by families across Skewen and Swansea. For his parents, Percival and Jeannie Kingdon, he was their only child, making his loss even more devastating. Today, his resting place stands as a reminder of the many young lives cut short in the final years of the conflict.