Ernest Bellew - Private - Welsh Regiment – 14th (Service) Battalion (Swansea)
Ernest Bellew was born in Swansea in 1888, the son of Arthur Bellew and Harriett Rees, who had married in Swansea in 1876.
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| 1901 Census |
At the time of the 1901 Census, the Bellew family were living at 50 Rodney Street, Swansea. Ernest’s father, Arthur, aged 50, was employed as a general labourer and had been born in Bigenton, Devon, according to the census. His mother, Harriet, aged 48, was originally from Cockett, Swansea.
The couple had seven children living at home. Their eldest son, Arthur H., aged 23, was employed as a railway gauger, while William, aged 21, worked as a grocer’s van driver. Their daughter, Susan, aged 19, was employed as a domestic servant, and Albert, aged 15, worked as a grocer’s errand boy.
The younger children were Sydney, also aged 15, Ernest, aged 13, and Beatrice M., who was just eight years old.
The household reflected the working-class life of Swansea at the beginning of the twentieth century, with several of the older children already employed in occupations connected with transport, commerce and domestic service.
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| 1911 Census |
By the time of the 1911 Census, the family were recorded as living at number 57, although the street is not specified in the available information.
Arthur, now aged 60, continued to work as a labourer, while his wife, Harriet, was 58 years old.
Only two of their children remained at home. Ernest, recorded as aged 19, was employed as a labourer, while his younger sister, Beatrice Maud, known as Bellie, aged 17, was working as a servant.
Also living at the address were boarders William Jones, aged 30, who was employed as a labourer, together with his wife, aged 28, and their one-year-old son.
The presence of boarders was common in working-class households during this period, providing additional income while offering accommodation to individuals and families who required lodgings.
Growing up in Swansea, Ernest would have been familiar with the busy industrial and commercial life of the town. His own employment as a labourer suggests that he was accustomed to physically demanding work before entering military service.
Following the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Ernest joined the Welsh Regiment and served as a Private with the 14th (Service) Battalion (Swansea).
The battalion had been raised in Swansea in September 1914 as part of the expansion of the British Army following the outbreak of war. It drew many of its recruits from Swansea and the surrounding districts, including men who had previously worked in the town’s docks, factories, workshops and other industries.
The 14th Battalion became part of the 114th Brigade, 38th (Welsh) Division, and arrived in France in December 1915.
During the following year, the division took part in the Battle of the Somme, including the fierce fighting for Mametz Wood in July 1916. The battle became one of the most significant engagements in the history of the Welsh Division and resulted in heavy casualties among its battalions.
By the summer of 1917, the 38th (Welsh) Division was serving in the Ypres Salient in Belgium, where British and Commonwealth forces were preparing for a major offensive against the German defensive positions.
On 31st July 1917, the Third Battle of Ypres, commonly known as the Passchendaele campaign, began.
The opening attack, known as the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, involved British and French forces advancing against strongly defended German positions to the east and north-east of Ypres.
The 38th (Welsh) Division took part in the offensive, with its troops attacking in difficult conditions across ground that had been heavily damaged by artillery bombardments.
Although the opening assault achieved some success, the fighting was extremely costly. German machine-gun fire, artillery bombardments and determined resistance caused heavy casualties among the advancing troops.
It was on this first day of the offensive that Ernest lost his life.
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| Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects |
His death occurred during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, when the Welsh Division was engaged in the fighting around Ypres. Although the precise circumstances of his death are not known, his battalion’s involvement in the offensive places his loss within one of the major engagements of the campaign.
Ernest was approximately 29 years old when he was killed.
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| Ernest Bellew Poelcapelle British Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium credit - findagrave |
The cemetery contains the graves of thousands of British and Commonwealth servicemen who lost their lives during the fighting in the Ypres Salient. Many of those buried there were casualties of the battles of 1917, with graves also brought into the cemetery from surrounding battlefields and smaller burial grounds after the war.
For his parents, Arthur and Harriet, and his brothers and sisters back in Swansea, Ernest’s death brought the devastating loss of a son and brother who had left his family and civilian employment to serve his country.
Having grown up in Rodney Street and worked as a labourer before the war, Ernest was among the many ordinary working men whose lives were cut short by the conflict.
His death on 31st July 1917 also formed part of a wider tragedy for Swansea, as numerous families across the town lost loved ones during the opening stages of the Third Battle of Ypres.
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