Remembering the Inter‑War, Second World War and Post‑Second World War Casualties Buried at Cwmgelli Cemetery, Swansea

Across nearly three decades of service — from the closing years of the First World War, through the long inter‑war peace, into the darkness of the Second World War, and onward into the uncertain years that followed — the men of Swansea and its surrounding districts gave their lives in the uniform of every branch of the armed forces.

They served in regiments, ships, squadrons, and reserve units that carried them far from the familiar streets of the city: to barracks and searchlight stations, to destroyers and depot ships, to airfields and operational squadrons. Some died in the quiet years after 1918; others in the great conflict that followed; and some in the final post‑war period as Britain rebuilt its forces and its future.

All were brought home to Cwmgelli Cemetery, where they rest side by side — the inter‑war dead, the wartime fallen, and the post‑war casualties — forming a continuous thread of service and sacrifice stretching from 1920 to 1947. Their names, recorded below, stand as a testament to Swansea’s enduring contribution to national duty and remembrance.

Inter‑War Burials

Robert Hosking Trimmer, Welsh Regiment, 14th (Service) Battalion (Swansea) Died 8th January 1920 Hosking served with the Swansea Battalion of the Welsh Regiment and died shortly after the First World War ended.

Thomas Morris Royal Naval Reserve, H.M.S. Eaglet Died 27th April 1920 Morris was attached to the Liverpool‑based training ship Eaglet and died during post‑war service.

James Williams Royal Army Service Corps Died 8th December 1920 Williams served in the Army’s transport and supply corps and died during peacetime duties.

Second World War Burials

Leonard George Dicks Royal Air Force, 9 Squadron Died 30th October 1939 Dicks served with a bomber squadron at the outbreak of the Second World War and died during early‑war operations.

John Reville Welsh Regiment, 11th Battalion Died 14th April 1940 Reville served with the 11th Battalion of the Welsh Regiment and died during the first year of the war.

Henry James Curtis Welsh Regiment, 17th (H.D.) Battalion Died 21st September 1940 Curtis served in a Home Defence battalion during the Blitz period and died while on wartime duty.

John Robert Lane Royal Artillery, 452 Battery, 67 (6th Battalion, The Welsh Regiment) Searchlight Regiment Died 12th April 1941 Lane served in a searchlight unit defending Britain from air attack and died during home‑front operations.

David Alfred Roberts Welsh Regiment, 2/5th Battalion Died 11th September 1941 Roberts served with the 2/5th Battalion of the Welsh Regiment and died during wartime service.

Edgar William Colebrook Royal Engineers Died 15th May 1942 Colebrook served as a Sapper with the Royal Engineers and died while undertaking wartime duties.

John George Ypres Boyle Royal Air Force Died 24th May 1942 Boyle served with the Royal Air Force during the height of the air war and died on active service.

Robert Williams The Queen’s Royal Regiment (West Surrey) Died 10th January 1943 Williams served as a Private with the Queen’s Royal Regiment and died at Ruthin during wartime service.

William Glyn Parry Royal Air Force, 105 Squadron Died 28th September 1943 Parry served as a Corporal with 105 Squadron at RAF Marham and died while home in Wales.

George Arthur Yates 

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 90 Squadron Died 20th October 1943 Yates served as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner with 90 Squadron and died in a Stirling crash near Benson.

Post‑Second World War Burials

Leonard James Royal Navy, H.M.S. Badsworth Died 24th May 1946 James served as a Leading Stores Assistant aboard the destroyer Badsworth and died at Haslar Naval Hospital.

Ronald Proudfree Royal Navy, H.M.S. Sanderling Died 27th February 1947 Proudfree served as an Able Seaman at the naval air station Sanderling and died at Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

Closing Tribute

All the men named in this roll of honour — from the First World War, through the inter‑war years, into the Second World War, and the post‑war period — are buried at Cwmgelli Cemetery, Swansea. Together they form a single, unbroken line of service stretching across the most turbulent decades of the twentieth century.

Here rest those who served in the final years of the First World War, men whose lives ended between 1914 and 1918 and whose families brought them home to Cwmgelli’s quiet ground. Here too lie the men of the inter‑war period, whose duty continued in the years when peace was fragile and the world was reshaping itself after the Great War.

Beside them are the airmen, soldiers, sailors, and engineers of the Second World War — men who served in regiments, squadrons, searchlight batteries, and naval vessels, and whose lives ended during Britain’s greatest national trial. And finally, the post‑war casualties, those who died in uniform during the slow return to peace, completing the cemetery’s long arc of service from 1920 to 1947.

Together, these men represent every branch of the armed forces: the Welsh Regiment and other infantry battalions; the Royal Navy and its reserve forces; the Royal Air Force and its operational squadrons; the Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery, and the vital support corps that sustained Britain’s war effort.