Tag: World War I

William Jones, Glynneath, 100 years on

October 8, 2017 0 Comments
William Jones, Glynneath, 100 years on

Almost exactly 100 years ago, at 6:25am on 25 October 1917, a terrible thing was done to a young man from Glynneath named William Jones.  A group of soldiers from the Worcestershire Regiment formed a firing squad and shot him dead as a punishment for deserting his post on the Western Front. William, probably a […]

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The overcoat

February 5, 2014 1 Comment
The overcoat

I was sitting reading in the front room yesterday when a sharp rap on the window made me jump.  A man stood at the door.   Only the sharp features of his face were visible; the rest of his body was protected from the cold wind and rain by a thick shell of industrial yellow.  Behind […]

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London: scene of flight, scene of destruction

August 15, 2013 1 Comment
London: scene of flight, scene of destruction

Fleeing from the noise and heat of the midday traffic we took our sandwiches to a bench in a small public garden off Marylebone High Street.  What we’d chanced upon was the site of the old St Marylebone church, across the road from its 1817 replacement.  Nothing remains of the first three churches (the current […]

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