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With the centenary of World War I currently taking place and lasting for the next few years, there have been many recent events and commemorations to remember those whose lives were tragically cut short, but also remembering those whose lives were changed forever due to one of the most tragic, mechanised slaughters the world has ever seen.
Virtually every family throughout the UK was touched in some way by this war. For people of my generation, stories were passed on by our Grandparents, who - whilst mainly born after events - would have had a parent, uncle or perhaps even a cousin who was involved in the war effort.
The 3 Brothers
I grew up with a remarkable story from my Dad's side of the family. 3 brothers, including my Great Grandfather, all went off to war and all three survived to tell the tale. This may not initially sound remarkable, but the odds of three brothers all surviving the war were extremely slim indeed.
As I grew up, the wonders of the internet finally meant I could look into their details. I found records of the three brothers from a census in the late 1890s. This snapshot in time records all three of them as young boys, no doubt boisterous, energetic, perhaps a bit mischevious, with their whole lives ahead of them. Little would they have known that in the space of just 15-20 years they would be sent off to a foreign land to fight for King & Country.
Private Frederick S Chard 55839
So up until now I wasn't aware of any relatives who had died in WWI. However, as I was conducting a little research into my family
All Saints Church, Brynglas
history I stumbled across a website called Roll-of-Honour.com showing a war memorial from the small part of Newport, Monmouthshire that my family came from. After scanning it I came across a Private Frederick S Chard 55839. Incredibly the website also had further details on Frederick. He was a Private in the 9th Battalion of The Welch Regiment and died on 20th September 1917. However, he has no known grave - so I presume he was just one of the many, many soldiers who were simply never found. Perhaps 20th September is a best guess at the date of his death. His name is also commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing in Paschendaele, Belgium. You can even find his record on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.
This simply had to be a relative - the surname and location were too much of a coincidince - so I had a check through the family tree I had compiled about 10 years ago.
There was no Frederick in my Great-Grandfather's immediate family, so I looked back a little further and, lo and behold, I came across a Frederick Chard born in 1866. This would have made him 51 in 1917, so without any further details I have to make an assumption that Frederick S Chard was his son (as many boys were traditionally named after their fathers back in those days). This would have made Frederick the cousin of my Great Grandfather. I imagine as they came from the same area they probably knew each other well. Perhaps they even signed up together?
Back to Brynglas
Thankfully, as the Brynglas area of Newport is only small (if you've ever been through South Wales on the M4, you will know the famous
The WWI Memorial at All Saints Church
Brynglas Tunnels bottleneck), I was able to locate the church where the memorial sits with ease. All Saints Church Brynglas on Brynglas Road. Using Streetview on Google Maps I could even view the memorial itself.
As I now have present day family members who live nearby (albeit on my wife's side of the family) I think it would be rather poignant to go and visit this memorial and pay my respects.
With time, the memory of these people will begin to fade, but whilst we can, we should continue to tell the stories of these brave men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
The freedom we cherish today was fought for and ultimately won by people like Frederick.
