Blackpill Remembrance – First World War

Clyne Chapel

Set on the quiet grounds of Clyne Chapel, overlooking the Clyne Valley and the shores of Swansea Bay, the Blackpill War Memorial stands as a modest yet deeply meaningful tribute to the men of this small coastal community who gave their lives during the First World War (1914–1918).

Clyne Chapel

The memorial bears a simple inscription of names — local sons, brothers, and husbands — whose service extended far beyond the peaceful surroundings of Blackpill to the battlefields of France, Flanders, the Mediterranean, and the distant seas. Each name represents a personal story: of young men who left their homes in Mayals, Oystermouth, and the Clyne Valley to serve in the Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force, many never to return.

Though the number of names is few compared with larger memorials, the Blackpill tablet reflects the close-knit character of the area at the time of the Great War — a cluster of cottages, farms, and small businesses bound together by family and faith. The memorial was placed within the chapel grounds as a place of quiet reflection, where relatives and neighbours could honour the fallen in the years following the war’s end.

Today, over a century later, the Clyne Chapel War Memorial continues to serve as a point of remembrance and community identity. Each name etched in stone preserves the memory of those who sacrificed their futures for peace, ensuring that their courage and loss are not forgotten by the generations who walk the same lanes and look upon the same sea.

George Trevor Brown

Royal Welsh Fusiliers – 1^st Battalion
25^th September 1915

George Trevor Brown was born in Swansea in 1895, the son of Thomas and Margaret Brown of Blackpill. He enlisted in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and served with the 1st Battalion on the Western Front. He was killed in action during the opening assault of the Battle of Loos on 25 September 1915 and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial in France.

James Henry Court

Royal Naval Reserve – H.M.S. Beaver
17^th October 1918

Engine Room Artificer James Henry Court, born in 1892 at Swansea, served with the Royal Naval Reserve aboard the destroyer H.M.S. Beaver. During operations in the Adriatic, he contracted pneumonia and died at a Royal Navy hospital in Italy on 17 October 1918. He lies in Bari War Cemetery and is also commemorated at Clyne Chapel, Blackpill.

A. Davies

Welsh Regiment – 14^th Battalion (Swansea Pals)
Date unknown (1916 probable)

Listed on the memorial only as “A. Davies,” he served with the 14th (Swansea Pals) Battalion, Welsh Regiment. His precise identity is uncertain, but he likely came from the Blackpill area and fell with his comrades during the fierce fighting on the Somme in 1916.

William Henry Elliott

Welsh Regiment – 1^st Battalion
2^nd April 1915

William Henry Elliott. Born in 1890 at Oystermouth, the youngest son of James and Ellen Elliott of Woodland Terrace, Blackpill. A farm labourer before the war, William served as a Private with the 1st Battalion, Welsh Regiment. He was killed in action near Ypres on 2 April 1915 and is buried in Lindenhoek Chalet Military Cemetery, Belgium.

Stanley Colt Faber

Royal Field Artillery – 47^th Brigade
30^th March 1917

Major Stanley Colt Faber, born 1884 at Malvern, was Adjutant of the Welsh Howitzer Brigade, R.F.A., based in Swansea before the war. He died in France on 30 March 1917 while serving with the 47th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, and rests in Faubourg d’Amiens Cemetery, Arras. His name appeared in the Roll of Honour published by the Herald of Wales that April.

Thomas Green, D.C.M.

Royal Garrison Artillery – 105^th Siege Battery
28^th October 1916

Second Lieutenant Thomas Green of Mayals Road, Swansea, served with the Royal Garrison Artillery and was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for gallantry in 1916. He was killed near Bécourt during the Battle of the Somme on 28 October 1916 and is buried in Bécourt Military Cemetery.

David Rees Wyndham Jones

Rifle Brigade – 3^rd Battalion
28^th December 1916

David Rees Wyndham Jones. Born 1892 at Penclawdd, son of Lewis and Sarah Ann Jones of 1 Beaufort Terrace, Blackpill. Enlisting in 1914, he served with the 3rd Battalion, Rifle Brigade, and was promoted to Corporal. He was killed holding the line near Loos on 28 December 1916 and is buried in Philosophe British Cemetery, Mazingarbe.

Ronald William Narracott

Royal Engineers
10^th August 1915

Lieutenant (or Captain) Ronald William Narracott was born 1883 in Shepherd’s Bush, London, the son of Samuel and Katherine Narracott. A Mining Engineer by profession, he served with the Royal Engineers and was reported missing on 10 August 1915 during operations in the Ypres Salient. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, and locally at Clyne Chapel.

John William Sommers

Royal Navy – H.M.S. Vivid I
8^th July 1919

John William Sommers. Born 1900 at Llandrindod, eldest son of John and Harriet Sommers of Mill Lane, Blackpill. Enlisted in 1915 aged 15 and trained aboard H.M.S. Impregnable. Later served as Ordinary Seaman at H.M.S. Vivid I, Devonport. Invalided with tuberculosis, he died on 8 July 1919 at Neath and District Isolation Hospital and is buried in Oystermouth Cemetery.

Edward Symons

Royal Garrison Artillery – 143^rd Siege Battery
25^th September 1918

Edward Symons. Born 1887 at Barnstaple, Devon, and living at Mayals Green with his wife Edith Norman and daughter Jessie. Served as a Gunner in the 143rd Siege Battery, R.G.A. He died on 25 September 1918 during the Hundred Days Offensive, and is buried in St Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen. His name is also honoured on the Blackpill War Memorial.

Legacy

The ten names recorded on the Blackpill War Memorial represent far more than a roll of the fallen; they embody the story of a small Welsh community drawn into the greatest conflict the world had yet known. These men served in every branch of the forces — from the trenches of Flanders to the guns of the Royal Artillery and the warships of the Royal Navy. Some were born in Swansea; others came from further afield but made their homes and families here before answering the call of duty.

Their deaths span almost the entire duration of the war, from the early battles of 1915 to the closing months of 1918, and even into 1919, when illness claimed the young sailor John William Sommers after the guns had fallen silent.

The memorial at Clyne Chapel, though modest in scale, stands as a lasting symbol of gratitude and remembrance. It reminds all who pass that even in a small corner of Wales, the impact of the Great War was deeply felt — in homes, chapels, and families who mourned those who would never return. The Blackpill men, whose names endure in stone, continue to be remembered not only as soldiers and sailors, but as sons of their community whose service and sacrifice helped to shape the peace that followed.