Francis Llewellyn Corker – Welsh Regiment, 14th (Service) Battalion (Swansea)

Lieutenant Francis Llewellyn Corker – Welsh Regiment, 14^th (Service) Battalion (Swansea)

Birth and Family Background

Francis Llewellyn Corker

Thomas Taliesin Corker and Rosa Bevan
marriage certificate
Parish Church of Oxwich, Gower

Francis Llewellyn Corker was born in 1896 in Swansea, the son of Thomas Taliesin Corker and Rosa Bevan, who were married in 1892 at the Parish Church of Oxwich, Gower.

1901 Census

At the time of the 1901 Census, the Corker family were residing at 7 George Street, Swansea. Thomas Taliesin Corker (45), born in Neath, was employed as a hay, corn, and coal merchant, while his Oxwich-born wife Rosa (29) managed the household. Their children were Winifred Mary (7), Francis Llewellyn (5), Rosa Emily (4), and Helen (1). Also present was a servant, Lina Matilda Waters (21).

1911 Census

By the 1911 Census, the family had moved to 6 Sketty Road, Swansea. Thomas Taliesin (52) was recorded as a hay and corn merchant and hauling contractor, and Rosa (39) remained at home. Their children were Winifred Mary (17), Francis Llewellyn (15), Rosa Emily (14), and Helen (11), all attending school, together with Thomas Gwyn Bevan (10 months). The household continued to employ Lina Matilda Waters (31) as a servant.

Family and Civic Context

At the outbreak of the First World War, Thomas Taliesin Corker was serving as Mayor of Swansea. In this role, he played a prominent part in helping to raise the 14^th (Service) Battalion (Swansea) of the Welsh Regiment, formally established on 6 August 1914.

Military Service

Francis Llewellyn Corker was commissioned as one of the battalion’s lieutenants, joining a unit closely identified with Swansea and composed largely of local volunteers. As a junior officer, his responsibilities included the leadership of platoons, supervision of patrols and working parties, and the welfare of his men under active service conditions.

Welsh Regiment, 14th (Service) Battalion — 5^th–6^th June 1916

On 5^th and 6^th June 1916, the 14^th (Service) Battalion (Swansea) was serving on the Western Front in the Loos sector, an area regarded as relatively quiet compared with the Somme, yet still extremely dangerous. The battalion was engaged in front-line and support trench holding, carrying out patrols, wiring parties, and reliefs under constant threat from German artillery, trench mortars, and snipers.

The Loos sector was characterised by flat, exposed ground and poorly drained trenches, offering limited protection. German forces maintained persistent shelling and intermittent trench mortar fire, often targeting communication trenches and working parties. Night-time operations were particularly hazardous, and officers were frequently exposed as they supervised movement and work in the forward areas.

It was during this period of steady attrition, rather than a major set-piece battle, that Lieutenant Francis Llewellyn Corker was killed in action between 5^th and 6^th June 1916. His death reflects the reality of service in so-called “quiet” sectors, where routine trench duties could be as deadly as major offensives.

Death and Commemoration

Francis Llewellyn Corker
Loos Memorial, Pas-de-Calais, France
credit - findagrave

Francis Llewellyn Corker has no known grave and is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, Pas-de-Calais, France, which bears the names of officers and men who fell in the Loos sector and whose resting places are unknown.

His loss represents the sacrifice of a young Swansea officer, closely connected to the civic leadership that helped raise his battalion, and exemplifies the heavy cost borne by families and communities during the First World War