Swansea Civilian War Dead — A Place of Collective Memory

Across the city of Swansea and beyond, the scars of war are marked not only in stone and ruin but in the lives of ordinary people who were taken too soon. From the bustling streets of Landore, Townhill, Mayhill, and Hafod, to the quiet corners of Mumbles and Sketty, families were torn apart during the terrible nights of the Blitz.

In cemeteries such as Danygraig, Cwmgelli, Morriston, Oystermouth, and the small chapel yards of Bonymaen and Penygroes, headstones and family plots quietly tell the story of those who perished in their homes, at their workplaces, and in the service of their neighbours as firewatchers, wardens, and rescue workers.

Some were lost not in Swansea itself but far afield — in London, Coventry, Bristol, Liverpool, and beyond — where Swansea families had made new homes or found work, only to be caught in raids of equal fury. Others met their fate at sea, civilians travelling aboard merchant vessels or steamships, struck down by enemy action in waters around Britain.

These men, women, and children were not soldiers, yet their sacrifice is woven into the same fabric of wartime memory. They were parents and grandparents, sons and daughters, neighbours and friends. Their names, preserved in records and marked in burial grounds, remain a testament to a community that endured immense loss yet carried on with resilience and unity.

To walk among the graves or read the lists of the fallen is to glimpse the human cost of conflict — ordinary lives interrupted by extraordinary tragedy. From the crowded streets of Castle and High Street to the quiet lanes of Mayhill and the shores of Swansea Bay, each name represents a life lived, a story ended, and a memory that must not fade.

Surnames beginning with A

Absalom, Beryl; Absalom, Elizabeth Ann; Absalom, Gordon Terance; Adomaitis, John Peter; Allen, William Hayden; Anderson, Trevor; Armarine, Elizabeth Jane Ann; Ashford, Catherine Reed; Ashford, William John; Aspevik, Henrik Martin; Atherton, Thomas; Aubrey, David John

Surnames beginning with B

Baker, Elsie; Baltzer, Louis Ferdinand; Barker, Charles Robert; Barnes, Wilfred; Bellamy, David Henry; Berry, Leonard; Beynon, Sidney George; Bija, Bernard Roy; Bija, Kenneth Howard; Billington, Charles Harold; Bird, Gwenllian; Bird, Mary Ann; Bird, Wilfred George; Bird, Wilfred Luther; Birlison, Ralph; Bishop, John Ernest Murray; Blackwell, Margaret; Bond, Robert John; Bowers, Evan John; Boyd, Claude Hamilton; Buckley, John; Buckley, Timothy; Burgess, Sidney Borland; Burke, Joseph Martin; Burridge, Evelyn; Butler, William

Surnames beginning with C

Camden, Constance Barbara; Camden, Constance Judith; Camden, Judith Elizabeth; Camden, Wallace Desmond; Cameron, Alexander; Canning, Sarah; Carlson, Ronald; Carlson, Victor; Cartmell, David; Causey, George Henry; Chespy, Maurice Eric; Cleaver, Annie Rebeka; Coates, William George; Cobley, Josiah; Collins, John; Collins, Margaret; Cook, Brinley Joshua; Cornelius, William; Cotterell, Gladys Mabel; Coughlin, Florence Kate; Cox, Ernest Thomas; Craig, William; Crane, Frank; Cratchley, Florence Kate; Crisp, Lewis John; Crocker, Percy Gwyne

Surnames beginning with D

Dance, Elwyn James; Daniels, Reginald Herbert; Darmody, Patricia; Darmody, Richard Arthur; Davey, Cyril John; Davey, Jeanette; Davey, Winifred Mary; Davies, Barbara; Davies, Barbara; Davies, Daniel Winston; Davies, David Daniel; Davies, David John; Davies, Evan John; Davies, Evelyn Maud; Davies, Gertrude Mary; Davies, Ida Gillian; Davies, Jean; Davies, Jean; Davies, Jean Margaret; Davies, Lilian Alexandra; Davies, Richard; Davies, Terry; Davies, Thomas (Unidentified, presumed); Davies, Thomas Joseph; Davies, William Trevor; Dawe, Edward Harold; Dennis, William Arthur; Dixon, Richard Llewellyn; Donoghue, John; Douglass, Edward James; Dring, Ruby

Surnames beginning with E

Earley, Arthur George Edward; Eaton, Jane; Edmonds, Elizabeth Mary; Edmonds, Llewellyn; Edwards, Anne; Edwards, Eliza; Edwards, Lilian Irene; Edwards, Philip Frederick; Edwards, William Frederick; Elliott, Elizabeth; Evans, David; Evans, Evan Thomas; Evans, Frederick Thomas John; Evans, Gwynfa Rees; Evans, Henry Graham; Evans, John Ambrose; Evans, John Ivor; Evans, John Thomas Frederick; Evans, Kenneth Trevor; Evans, Lilian Elaine; Evans, Mabel Elizabeth; Evans, Mary Jane; Evans, Mervyn Stuart; Evans, Ronald George

Surnames beginning with F

Fabian, Elizabeth; Fahrni, Ross Pringle; Farmer, Henry Collingwood; Faxe, Jens; Fisher, Margaret Jane; Fitzgerald, Iris Eileen; Fitzgerald, James Michael; Fitzgerald, Maureen Kathleen; Flitter, William Bolton; Ford, Elizabeth; Ford, James Henry; Ford, Lilian May; Fowler, Bertha; Froom, John Charles Churchill; Fryer, Charles Bertram; Fuller, William Ernest

Surnames beginning with G

Gale, George Henry; Galvin, Reginald; Garrahan, James; George, Derek William; Grey, William John; Griffiths, Hananiah; Griffiths, James; Griffiths, Mary Hannah; Griffiths, Nicholas; Griffiths, William Frederick; Grove, David John; Gudgeon, Annie Mary; Gudgeon, Patrick Arthur

Surnames beginning with H

Hammett, Hector George; Harris, Frederick John; Harris, Hubert Walters; Harris, Walter John; Harvey, Keith; Harvey, Phyllis M.; Hennessy, Michael J.; Hennessy, Sydney; Hicks, William John; Hinch, C. Paul; Hitchings, John; Hitchings, Walter Nicholas; Holder, Jack Albert; Hopkins, Sarah Jane

Surnames beginning with J

Jackson, George Brown; James, Florence Edith; James, Glenys Mason; Jamieson, Gordon Cave Vincent; Jenks, Jack Harold; Jeremiah, John Owen Thomas; John, Walter Gordon; Johnson, Edna Margaret; Johnson, Eileen Mary; Johnson, Ivy Ethel; Johnson, Mary Stewart; Johnson, Robert; Johnstone, James Fox; Jones, Agnes Kate; Jones, Alan Hirwain; Jones, Albin Ivor; Jones, Barrington; Jones, David George; Jones, Elaine; Jones, Exel Christian Burman; Jones, Ivor Llewellyn; Jones, John William Treharne; Jones, Kenneth; Jones, Luther; Jones, Mary Kate; Jones, Reginald John; Jones, William Clifford; Jones, William John; Jorgensen, Leif

Surnames beginning with K

Keest, David James; Kenwood, Charles Edwin; Kenwood, Claude Stanley; Kuhn, Christian Elias

Surnames beginning with L

Lang, William George; Lee, John Alfred; Lewis, Arthur; Lewis, Herbert; Lewis, Leslie; Lodwig, Daniel; Lodwig, Elizabeth Ann; Lodwig, Gladys; Lyndon, David Samuel

Surnames beginning with M

Marshall, Ernest; Mathias, Emily; McClelland, Robert; McWha, George; Miles, Thomas George; Miles, William Arthur; Minty, Thomas Hedges; Mitchell, Alice; Mitchell, Christopher; Mogridge, Alfred John; Mogridge, Hilda; Mogridge, Selina; Morgan, Beryl; Morgan, Clifford; Morgan, Denna; Morgan, Elizabeth (Lizzie); Morgan, Eunice Elizabeth; Morgan, Gwenllian; Morgan, Ivor; Morgan, Margaret May; Morgan, Nestor John; Morgan, Robert George; Morgans, Isabella; Morris, Elizabeth; Morris, Evelyn; Morse, William George; Munford, Thomas Alexander

Surnames beginning with N

Neset, Robert Rasmussen; Nicholls, Ada; Nicholls, Elizabeth Jane; Nicholls, Eunice; Nicholls, Harold Frederick; Nicholls, Henry John; Nicholls, Iris Christina; Nichols, Richard John; Noonan, Terrance Patrick; Norman, Ena; Noyes, Leon Keith

Surnames beginning with O

O’Connor, Patrick; O’Connor, Thomas; Olsen, Sverre; Ooburg, Jan; Owen, Minnie; Owen, Percival Richard

Surnames beginning with P

Parker, Thomas George; Partridge, Mary Ann; Paton, Lynda Rose; Paton, Ethel Maud; Pearce, Colin; Pearce, Frances; Pearce, Joseph George; Pearce, Leah; Penny, Beryl; Penny, Elizabeth Mabel; Penny, William John; Phillips, David John; Phillips, John; Phillips, Lewis James; Phillips, Marion; Phillips, Thomas; Pickard, Richard Alfred; Poole, William; Pow, Graham; Prangle, Morris; Price, Albert William; Price, Catherine; Price, Henry James; Price, John Francis Raymond; Price, Maria; Price, Mildred Elizabeth Josephine; Price, Stanley Bernard; Price, Winifred Grace; Priestley, Sarah Jane; Pritchard, Margaret Mary Symons; Puxley, Elizabeth Jane; Puxley, William;

Surnames beginning with Q

Quinn, William John

Surnames beginning with R

Ramussen, Robert; Ratcliffe, Eliza Ann; Ratcliffe, Rosina; Rayson, William Arthur; Rebours, Louis; Rees, Gordon; Rees, Henry James; Rees, John Philip; Rees, Rosa; Rees, Thomas Charles; Rees, William Daniel; Restall, William George; Richards, Anne; Richards, Charles; Richards, David John; Richards, John Bernard; Richards, Thomas; Richards, Vera Elizabeth; Richards, Vivian Frederick; Roberts, Edward Thomas; Robins, Dorothy; Robins, Frederick George; Robins, George John; Robins, Rose; Roderick, John; Rourke, Brian Shemus

Surnames beginning with S

Salisbury, John George; Sambrook, Brinley; Sanford, Jack Wesson; Seeley, Marion; Shaddick, Martha; Sheepwash, Betty; Shephard, William; Simpson, Rowland William Guy; Slattery, Margaret (Peggy); Smale, James; Smith, Rose Eveline; Stern, Reginald Hubert; Stevens, Edith Minnie; Stewart, Michael; Stiens, Thomas Charles; Stirrup, Joseph Harold; Stock, Aaron; Stuart, James

Surnames beginning with T

Taylor, Ada Jane; Thomas, Benjamin; Thomas, David George; Thomas, David Maddock; Thomas, Edith; Thomas, Elizabeth; Thomas, Gwyneth; Thomas, Irene; Thomas, John James; Thomas, Margaret; Thomas, Mary (May); Thomas, Raymond John; Thomas, Stanley William; Thorne, George Gilbert; Turner, Reginald Harold

Surnames beginning with U

Unidentified, Male (22 Feb 1941); Unidentified, Female; Unidentified, Male; Unidentified, Male (21 Feb 1941); Unidentified, Male (21 Feb 1941); Unidentified, Female (22 Feb 1941); Unidentified, Male (26 Feb 1941); Unidentified, Female (26 Feb 1941); Unidentified, (9 Mar 1941); Unidentified, (15 Mar 1941); Unidentified, Female (2 Mar 1941); Unidentified, Male (16 Feb 1943); Urvoy, Francis Maire Joseph

Surnames beginning with V

Vaughan, Henry; Voyzey, Alfred James; Voyzey, Harry

Surnames beginning with W

Walker, Harry; Walsh, Martha Elizabeth; Walsh, Matthew; Warren, Mary; Wathne, Sigurd; White, George; White, Hilda Maud; William, Ivor; Williams, Ann (age 5); Williams, Ann (age 62); Williams, Betty; Williams, Catherine Emma; Williams, David; Williams, Dorothy; Williams, Emma Catherine; Williams, Florence Evelyn; Williams, Gwynne Arthur; Williams, Iris; Williams, James John; Williams, James Moses; Williams, John Ivor; Williams, Mildred Elizabeth; Williams, Percival William; Williams, Peter; Williams, Sarah Ann; Williams, Thomas Percival; Williams, William; Williams, William John (age 49); Williams, William John (age 45); Williams, William Morgan; Williams, Winifred; Wilson, Thomas James; Winning, James; Woodrow, Samuel; Woods, Mary; Woollard, Ernest; Wroe, Olive May

Swansea Casualties - Who Lost Their Elsewhere in the UK 

Bennett, William James; Collins, Reginald Leslie; Davies, Bryn; Davies, Frank; Davies, Gertrude Mary; Evans, Ebenezer; Evans, Gordon Leonard; Fermandell, Emily; Griffith, Wilfred Hamilton; Griffiths, Peter; Harding, Leo; Jackson, Ann; Lewis, Owen Morval; Maddocks, Ethel May; Marnell, Ellen; Marriott, Dorothy; Matthews, Edwin Winton; Pitkin, Minnie Victoria; Price, Ethel; Rees, Thomas Glyn; Richards, Herbert; Richards, Thomas; Rocke, Helena Mary; Skippon, Harry; Thomas, Mildred; Thomas, Stephen Griffin; Twidle, Maud; Watkins, Douglas Edgar; Young, Andrew Gilford

Swansea Civilians - War Dead - Sea 

Andrews, Ernest Frederick; Andrews, Rita Lucia; Buchan, Cyril Walter; Lewin, Betty May

Reflection

This Roll of Honour is more than a record of names — it is a testament to the lives lived and lost, the families broken, and the city forever changed.
Each entry tells the story of an ordinary person, caught in extraordinary times, whose life was ended by the violence of war.

From the youngest children to the elderly, from mothers and fathers to whole families lost together, from those who perished in their homes to those taken at sea or elsewhere in Britain — all are remembered here.

Their names remind us of the cost of conflict, not just on the battlefield but in the streets, schools, chapels, and homes of Swansea. They are silent witnesses to resilience and sacrifice, and they call us to honour peace, unity, and the value of every human life.

We remember them. We honour them. We will not forget them.