The War Graves of Ystradgynlais
WW1 Armistice Centenary Project
From Flanders to villages across the UK and Germany, bells will toll on 11th November. Not only does this year's Remembrance Sunday fall on a Sunday it also marks the 100 years since the armistice treaty was signed between first world war allies and Germany, bringing to an end four years of war in western Europe.
Obviously there was celebrating, people pouring out into the streets, church bells ringing but there was a down side and as thirty nations had declared war between 1914 and 1918 the devastating loss of life would then and no doubt for many years to come, affect many families and communities not only in Britain but throughout the world.
I have spent over a decade photographing the graves in over 115 Cemeteries from Ystradgynlais up to Swansea, which hold a family plot and the headstone or markers clearly indicate who is buried there but also has transcribed the name of the son or daughter who fell in WWI and WWII, but are either buried somewhere else or worse have no burial plot of their own but were killed in action. {Known to YEARGroup as Remembrance Graves}
This year I decided not to write or photograph a project for this special year because I heard in March that Ystradgynlais Library was going to make a poppy display in the library. I was asked by Jan if they could use (for reference) the details Jon has entered on to our web pages for the fallen for Ystradgynlais and District and I then asked if I could add something to their "Waterfall" display.
So to pay our respects to the fallen of Ystradgynlais, Cwmtwrch and Colbren I have made over 100 poppies and each one holds the name of one of those men who gave all for God, King and Country.
Val Trevallion YEARGroup
Ystalyfera Electronic Archive Research Group
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On the left the poppy for Frederick Herbert Carr, by YEARGroup, which is now part of the cascade display in the library, and on the right the poppy for Frederick Herbert Carr, by Ystradgynlais Library, which is one of the many now adorning the town's lamp posts.
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The YEARGroup poppy cascade as part of the WW1 Remembrance display 'Their Name Liveth For Evermore' in Ystradgynlais Library. We have matched individual poppies to the photographs put up by the library on their background display. The cascade sits among books on the history of the First World War, as well as some detailed biographies of the fallen compiled by the library.
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The poppies above by Ystradgynlais Library, recording the details of William Thomas Clifford and Frederick Russell, fallen of Ystradgynlais. Below, a selection of the poppies, now in the cascade, including those for William T Clifford and Fred Russell.
A close-up of the poppy cascade by YEARGroup, now part of the display created by Ystradgynlais Library.
WW1 Armistice Centenary Project
in Ystradgynlais Library
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How To Write Alternate History is a series of articles by Grey Wolf, examining subjects such as the identity of man, whether man makes the weather, how the everyday in an alternate world is going to be changed and what names for music, vehicles, weapons etc would be different.
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Simone dreamed of becoming a showbusiness star during her nights in the air raid shelter in the garden of her home in Southall, during World War Two. After joining the A.T.S. in the war, she became part of the concert party entertaining the troops, eventually joining the Windmill Theatre.
