Danygraig Cemetery: Second World War Roll of Honour
Danygraig Cemetery: Second World War Roll of Honour
This blog is the second in a series to highlight
those who lie in Danygraig, moving on from the Danygraig Cemetery: First World War Roll of Honour to those
linked with the Second. Each headstone carries its own story — of service,
of sacrifice, and of Swansea families who endured the losses of
another global conflict.
1940
Chief Officer Robert Henry Allan Harrison
Naval Auxiliary Personnel, H.M.S. Ely5th January 1940
Robert Henry Allan Harrison, aged in his sixties, was one of
the earliest Second World War casualties connected with Swansea. Serving
as Chief Engineer aboard H.M.S. Ely, His grave at Danygraig became the first
Second World War burial at the cemetery, marking the start of its wartime
role as a place of remembrance.
Second Engineer Officer Thomas Warren Peters
Merchant Navy, S.S. Stanburn29th January 1940
Thomas Warren Peters, aged 57, was serving as Second
Engineer Officer aboard the cargo ship S.S. Stanburn. He was laid to rest at Danygraig Cemetery.
Seaman Cook Henry Albert Johnson
Royal Naval Patrol Service, H.M. Trawler Lord Wakefield1st March 1940
Henry Albert Johnson, aged 35, served aboard the trawler Lord
Wakefield. He was buried at Danygraig, his death remembered as one of the first
wartime naval tragedies linked to the port.
Fusilier Daniel Jones
Royal Welch Fusiliers, 9th Battalion24th April 1940
Daniel Jones, just 18 years old. He died while
stationed at an R.A.F. base in Hampshire, far from home. His funeral took place
at Danygraig Cemetery, where his youth and sacrifice are still
remembered.
Ordinary Seaman Frank Heslop
Royal Naval Patrol Service, H.M.S. Lucifer24th July 1940
Frank Heslop, aged 18, of Gateshead, was found dead in his
cabin at the Swansea naval base H.M.S. Lucifer. An inquest ruled his deaths due
to carbon monoxide poisoning, though the source remained a mystery.
Frank was buried at Danygraig.
Gunner John Collins
Royal Artillery25th July 1940
John Collins, born in Swansea in 1919, served with the Royal
Artillery. He died in July 1940 and was buried at Danygraig Cemetery.
Trooper George Harris
Royal Armoured Corps, 16th/5th Lancers7th August 1940
George Harris died on 7 August 1940. His background remains
uncertain, though he may have been the George Harris recorded in Port Tennant
at the time of the 1939 Register. His funeral was reported in the South
Wales Daily Post, and he was buried at Danygraig.
Lance Serjeant Henry Lewis
Royal Engineers12th November 1940
Henry Lewis, born in 1907, served with the Royal Engineers
and rose to the rank of Lance Serjeant. He died on 12 November 1940 at
the age of 33. His grave at Danygraig.
Stoker 1st Class Thomas Edward Cunningham
Royal Navy, H.M.S. Galatea22nd December 1940
Thomas Edward Cunningham, aged 23, served as a stoker aboard
H.M.S. Galatea. While home on leave in Swansea, he was killed in a blackout
accident after being struck by a bus. His burial at Danygraig was the last
Second World War interment of 1940, closing the cemetery’s first year of
wartime burials.
1941
Sailor Kjell W. Larsen
Norwegian Merchant Navy1st February 1941
At just 18 years old, Norwegian sailor Kjell W. Larsen was the first military burial of 1941 at Danygraig. His death
reflected the close wartime ties between Norway and Swansea’s docks.
Lance Corporal John Evans
Welsh Guards21st February 1941
John Evans, son of David and Margaret Evans of Swansea, died
on the second night of the Swansea Blitz. He was buried at Danygraig on
21 February.
Private George Victor Hammond
Royal Army Service Corps5th March 1941
George Victor Hammond, aged 25, died while serving in
Yorkshire. He was laid to rest at
Danygraig, remembered for his service in the R.A.S.C.
Winchman Frank Davies
Trinity House Service, M.V. Georges of Joly30th/31st March 1941
Frank Davies of Swansea, serving with the Trinity House
Service, lost his life during the heavy bombing of Plymouth. His body
was returned home and buried at Danygraig at the end of March.
Sailor Knut J. Hansen
Norwegian Merchant Navy5th April 1941
Norwegian sailor Knut J. Hansen was reported missing in
March and later found drowned in Swansea Docks. His burial at Danygraig is
remembered as part of the so-called “Norwegian mystery.”
Fusilier Evan Williams
Royal Welch Fusiliers5th April 1941
Evan Williams, of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, also died on 5
April 1941. Very little is known about his life, but his grave at Danygraig
ensures he is not forgotten.
Fireman and Trimmer William Phillips
Merchant Navy, S.S. Baron Carnegie11th June 1941
William Phillips, aged 30, died when the S.S. Baron
Carnegie was torpedoed off St David’s Head. Unlike many of his shipmates,
his body was recovered and buried at Danygraig.
Corporal Raymond Mort
Monmouthshire Regiment, 3rd Battalion11th July 1941
Raymond Mort aged 24, drowned in a training exercise
at Carlingford Lough, Northern Ireland. His body was returned home and buried
at Danygraig.
Private William Henry Johnson
Royal Army Service Corps (attached Royal Artillery)20th July 1941
William Henry Johnson, aged 23, was fatally injured in an
accident in Surrey. His family chose a private memorial for his grave at
Danygraig rather than a standard military headstone.
Bombardier Lawrence George Ahearne
Royal Artillery27th July 1941
Lawrence George Ahearne died following a tragic incident
reported as the “Tragedy After Village Dance.” His burial at Danygraig
was the last military funeral of 1941, closing another difficult year
for Swansea families.
1942
Sailor Hans Johansen
Norwegian Merchant Navy12th January 1942
The first military burial of 1942 at Danygraig, Hans Johansen was a Norwegian sailor who lost his life in Swansea.
Private Margaret Mary Murphy
Auxiliary Territorial Service6th February 1942
At just 18 years old, Margaret Mary Murphy was the only
servicewoman to be buried at Danygraig during the Second World War.
Private John Peter Menkavitch
Welch Regiment, 3rd Battalion22nd March 1942
John Peter Menkavitch was killed in a tragic training
accident while on army manoeuvres in Cardiff.
Sailor Ingemann L. Seehus
Norwegian Merchant Navy26th March 1942
Ingemann L. Seehus was a Norwegian sailor remembered at
Danygraig for his wartime service.
Sailor Sigurd Wathne
Norwegian Merchant Navy26th March 1942
Sigurd Wathne, a former international footballer and
Olympic goalkeeper, died after being injured in the sinking of D/S Risøy.
His grave at Danygraig highlights the far-reaching impact of war on men of
every walk of life.
Stoker 2nd Class Ernest William Winter
Royal Navy, H.M.S. Cabot1st October 1942
Ernest William Winter served at the Royal Naval training
establishment H.M.S. Cabot and was laid to rest at Danygraig
later that year.
Sergeant John Sanders
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 207 Squadron25th November 1942
John Sanders was the first airman to be buried
at Danygraig. His funeral marked the final military burial of 1942,
closing another chapter of wartime sacrifice.
1943
Sailor Hans O. H. Olsen
Norwegian Merchant Navy1st January 1943
Hans O. H. Olsen was the first serviceman to be buried at Danygraig
in 1943.
Guardsman Henry Graham Evans
Welsh Guards, 1st Battalion16th February 1943
Henry Graham Evans enlisted in the Welsh Guards, 1st
Battalion, and died in February 1943, aged 25. He was laid to rest at
Danygraig Cemetery, where his grave is maintained as a war burial.
Cook Herbert William Scott
Merchant Navy, M.V. Hope Crown3rd March 1943
Herbert William Scott served with the Merchant Navy aboard
the M.V. Hope Crown. He died at Hill House Isolation Hospital,
Swansea, and was buried at Danygraig Cemetery.
Gunner Albert John Hastings
Royal Artillery, 122 Field Regiment15th May 1943
Albert John Hastings died on 15 May 1943, aged 26, at the North
Wales Sanatorium. He was buried on the upper slopes of Danygraig
Cemetery.
Private Harold John Thomas
Royal Army Medical Corps10th August 1943
Harold John Thomas died on 10 August 1943, aged 24. He was
buried at Danygraig Cemetery, his grave marking the loss of a soldier of the
Royal Army Medical Corps.
Sergeant Allan Charles Taylor
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve3rd September 1943
Allan Charles Taylor, aged 22, was killed when his training
aircraft collided on landing at RAF Carew Cheriton, Pembrokeshire. His
funeral at Danygraig Cemetery was the last burial of 1943 and marked the
final interment of an airman at the cemetery during the Second World
War.
1944
Lieutenant William Lewis Howells
Home Guard, 14th Glamorganshire (Swansea) Battalion22nd March 1944
William Lewis Howells, aged 48, served with the Home
Guard, 14th Glamorganshire (Swansea) Battalion. A lifelong resident of
Fleet Street, Swansea. His funeral at Danygraig Cemetery was the first
military burial of 1944.
Cook William Charles Lyons
Naval Auxiliary Personnel, H.M.S. ORCHY8th May 1944
William Charles Lyons served on board H.M.S. ORCHY,
one of the converted Q-ships operating in the North-Western Approaches.
He endured the cramped and hazardous life of auxiliary naval crews before he
died in 1944. He was buried at Danygraig Cemetery, Swansea, where his grave
commemorates his service at sea.
Corporal Llewellyn Owen
Army Catering Corps3rd July 1944
Llewellyn Owen, aged 34, enlisted in 1941 and served with
the Army Catering Corps, attached to the Royal Army Service Corps. He
died during the V1 flying bomb campaign and was buried at Danygraig
Cemetery, his interment one of the wartime losses of 1944.
Serjeant Frederick George Davies
Manchester Regiment26th August 1944
Frederick George Davies, born in 1878, was a First World
War veteran who later served with the Manchester Regiment, rising to the
rank of Serjeant. His funeral at
Danygraig Cemetery was the last military burial of 1944, closing a year
of heavy wartime loss for Swansea families.
1945
Able Seaman James Griffith MacDougall
Merchant Navy, S.S. BaronesaBorn in 1917, James Griffith MacDougall served as an Able Seaman aboard the
S.S. Baronesa, a refrigerated cargo vessel that had survived bombing
raids earlier in the war. James died while on service in 1945 and was buried at
Danygraig Cemetery. His burial was the first of 1945.
Serjeant David Thomas Parry
Monmouthshire Regiment, 3rd Battalion21st March 1945
Born in 1919, David Thomas Parry served in Europe following the D-Day
landings. Wounded on the Western Front, he later died of his injuries. His
burial at Danygraig Cemetery was the last before VE Day, 8 May 1945.
Private Stanley Vernon Lloyd
General Service Corps10th July 1945
Born in 1926, Stanley Vernon Lloyd died at Chester Hospital and was
buried alongside his father in the same grave at Danygraig, uniting two
generations of service and sacrifice.
Corporal Christopher George Phillips
Royal Army Ordnance Corps14th July 1945
Born in 1902, Christopher George Phillips served four years with the Royal
Army Ordnance Corps, including campaigns in North Africa and Italy.
He became ill and died shortly after the war. He was buried at Danygraig
Cemetery.
Lance Corporal William John Stephens
Royal Army Service Corps7th November 1945
Born in 1902, William John Stephens served with the Royal Army Service
Corps. William’s burial at Danygraig Cemetery was the last military
funeral of 1945, echoing the lingering toll of the war as deaths
continued from wounds and illness even after peace had been declared.
1946
Private Michael Terence Wallace
Welch Regiment7th January 1946
Born in 1912, Michael Terence Wallace served with the Welch Regiment.
Michael’s burial at Danygraig Cemetery was the first military funeral of
1946, marking the beginning of another year in which the legacy of
conflict still claimed lives.
Able Seaman Christopher Branegan
Merchant Navy, S.S. Fort-La-Corne11th March 1946
Born in 1880 in Liverpool, Christopher Branegan served in the
Merchant Navy. His service record lists him aboard the S.S. Fort-La-Corne,
though the ship itself was lost in 1943, suggesting a clerical error.
Christopher died aged 69 and was buried at Danygraig Cemetery, remembered among
Swansea’s seafaring dead.
Sapper Walter Kenneth Gilbert
Royal Engineers, 4 Bomb Disposal Company31st July 1946
Born in 1923, Walter Kenneth Gilbert served with the Royal Engineers,
serving with the 4 Bomb Disposal Company. Walter was killed in a
tragic accident in Norfolk and brought home for burial at Danygraig
Cemetery, aged only 23.
Driver Jeremiah Driscoll
Royal Army Service Corps3rd August 1946
Details of Jeremiah Driscoll’s early life remain limited, but he
served with the Royal Army Service Corps, providing vital transport and
logistical support during and after the war. He died on 3 August 1946, only
days after the burial of Sapper Gilbert, and rests at Danygraig Cemetery. His
funeral marked the last military burial of 1946, a reminder of the continuing
human cost of war even after peace had been declared.
1947
Stoker 1st Class Frederick James Hanley
Royal Navy, H.M.S. Cattistock2nd January 1947
Born in 1916, Frederick James Hanley served as a Stoker 1st Class
with the Royal Navy aboard H.M.S. Cattistock. He died on 2 January 1947,
becoming the first military burial of that year at Danygraig Cemetery.
His service and sacrifice are recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission, which also notes his family ties to Swansea and Norwich.
Signalman Thomas Charles Horner
Royal Corps of Signals23rd March 1947
Thomas Charles Horner, born in 1886 in Swansea, was a veteran of both
world wars, serving first with the Welsh Regiment and later rejoining the
army in 1940 as a Signalman with the Royal Corps of Signals. He died on
23 March 1947 after a long illness and was buried at Danygraig Cemetery.
Marine Thomas Vivian Moon
Royal Marines10th November 1947
Thomas Vivian Moon, born in 1921, served with the Royal Marines
during the Second World War. Buried at Danygraig Cemetery, his funeral marked
the final military burial to take place there, closing a chapter in the
cemetery’s long history of service burials.
Reflection
Taken together, the stories of those buried at Danygraig
Cemetery form a moving tapestry of Swansea’s wartime history. From the
outbreak of the First World War in 1914 through to the final burials of 1947,
the graves trace more than three decades of service and sacrifice. Over ninety
men and women connected with the First World War lie here, their lives
ending both during the fighting and in the difficult years that followed.
Alongside them are more than sixty servicemen and women of the Second World
War, whose deaths between 1940 and 1947 reflect the wide and lasting toll
of that conflict.
Some were young men who never returned from the front,
others older veterans whose lives ended years after battle. There are sailors
lost at sea, soldiers killed in training, airmen who perished in accidents, and
even a servicewoman — each name representing a family left to grieve.
Danygraig became, in its own way, a place where the global
met the local. From the trenches of the First World War to the skies, seas,
and home front of the Second, the world’s conflicts reached directly into the
streets and homes of Swansea. The cemetery became a place not only of burial
but of remembrance, where grief was carved into stone and shared across
generations.
These graves are more than individual memorials. Together,
they stand as a collective witness to the cost of war, reflecting the
breadth of service — young and old, officers and privates, locals and those
from far beyond Wales. They anchor national and international history in the
soil of Swansea, reminding us that war’s toll was not distant but deeply felt
here, among the docks, terraces, and hillsides of the city.
Today, as we walk among the headstones of Danygraig, we are
invited not only to remember the fallen but to carry their legacy forward.
Their names remind us that peace is fragile and precious, and that remembrance
is not only about the past, but about shaping a future rooted in compassion,
justice, and enduring gratitude.
Comments
Post a Comment