William Gordon Francis Bevan – Welsh Regiment

Private William Gordon Francis Bevan – Welsh Regiment

Phillip Francis Bevan and Lilla Annie Leathers marriage certificate parish church of Oystermouth

William Gordon Francis Bevan, born in 1916 in Swansea, was the son of Phillip Francis Bevan and Lilla Annie Leathers, who married in 1912 at the parish church of Oystermouth. His early life is clearly captured in the 1921 Census, which provides a vivid snapshot of the Bevan household during the interwar years.

1921 Census – Written as a Paragraph

1921 Census

The 1921 Census records the Bevan family living at Marion, Bishopston, where Phillip Bevan, aged 37, worked as a market gardener on his own account, while his wife, Lilla Annie, aged 34, undertook household duties. Their two children, William G. F., aged 5, and Ellen K., aged 8, were both attending school. Also present in the home was William Leworthy, a widowed uncle aged 76, described as a retired agricultural blacksmith, whose presence reflects the extended family networks common in rural Gower communities of the period.

William Gordon Francis Bevan
Oystermouth Cemetery, Mumbles
credit - findagrave

Service with the Welsh Regiment

William Gordon Francis Bevan later served as a Private with the Welsh Regiment, one of Wales’s most historic infantry regiments, whose battalions saw extensive service throughout the Second World War. His role placed him among the many Swansea and Gower men who answered the call to serve.

Death and Burial

William died on 15 August 1946, during the difficult post‑war period when many servicemen were still engaged in duties connected to demobilisation and recovery. His body was brought home to Swansea, where he was laid to rest at Oystermouth Cemetery, joining the long roll of local soldiers whose service and sacrifice remain part of the city’s wartime legacy.