Book remembers a town's heroes

It has been written as a tribute to the late David Pugh, who was the first chairman of the group and researched some of the material which has been used in the book, the rest being researched and written by Joy Hamer.

"Newtown in the Great War" has been published to commemorate the centenary of the end of the conflict which claimed the lives of over 300 people from the town.

It includes letters from the boys at the front, a list of those who died with short biographies, and accounts of the impact of the war on the town, including the role of women.

Among the personal profiles are that of Captain George Latham, from Union Street, who served in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and won the Military Cross and Bar for bravery in Gaza in 1917.

He went on to play football for Liverpool and Stoke, winning 10 caps for Wales, and in 1924 was manager of the British football team at the Olympic Games.

Another, Captain Charles Maxwell Woosnam, served at Gallipoli, Gaza and Jerusalem before transferring to the Western Front. An outstanding sportsman, he was the only amateur to captain Manchester City, and also captained the full England professional team, before a broken leg ended his footballing career. Nevertheless, he was still able to win Olympic gold in tennis in the 1920 Antwerp Games in the men's doubles, and a silver in the mixed doubles.

Among the legacies of the conflict were various memorials, including the creation of a parish hall, Church House, which was initially to act as a memorial to the "church lads" who had fallen, but was later broadened to all men irrespective of creed, to be remembered on a tablet outside the building.

Church House became a favourite venue for various kinds of public entertainment including dances, plays, and public meetings, but in 1967 was put on the market.

According to the booklet, with the help of a town council grant, the marble tablet, inscribed with 173 names, was removed from Church House and placed in a former porch on the north wall of St David's Church, being rededicated in September 1989.

"In 2006 St David's Church closed and was sold, but at present it is not known who is responsible for the memorial tablet," the book says.

The town's cenotaph was unveiled at Clifton Park on January 18, 1925. It was the custom for the carnival procession to halt at the cenotaph and for the carnival queen to lay a posy of flowers in memory of the fallen.

Another legacy was the arrival in January 1920 of a British tank and two German guns captured by the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and donated to the town. They were put in Bank Park, but by 1927 the town council no longer wanted them, but knew getting rid of them would cause controversy, so the tank stayed for another five years before being scrapped. The guns were removed to the recreation ground and were also later scrapped.