Holyhead War Graves

The two world wars affected Holyhead more than they did most other towns in Great Britain, simply because it is a ferry port town, and the ferries were commandeered by the Admiralty during the conflicts, for use in the war effort. The subsequent loss of several of Holyhead’s ferry and mail boats, either by accident, being sunk by torpedoes or sunk by collision with a mine, resulted in a loss of life that was abnormally high.

I believe that during WWI it is true that per capita, Holyhead suffered a higher number of casualties than any other town in Great Britain.

The graves where these casualties of war are remembered or buried – in the town of Holyhead – are to be found in Maeshyfryd Cemetery, St Seiriol’s Churchyard, and St Mary’s Catholic Cemetery.

Not only are there the graves of the casualties from the shipping disasters, but also of soldiers who came home badly wounded or with some malady, only to subsequently die, either in a hospital or at home. Many other casualties, killed in some far off place, are simply remembered on their family graves, perhaps a family’s way of bringing them closer to home.

I hope to tell some of their stories and to present high-resolution photographs of their graves. Where I have discovered the loss of more than one person from the same family I will present them on their own web page. Below is a table which gives basic details of the graves, clicks on the blue underlined (hyperlinked) names to read about them, and to see their graves.

Whilst I have made frequent and lengthy visits to Holyhead’s cemeteries, and have searched in earnest, there will be some war graves that are not photographed, either because the gravestones were laid flat (normally for safety reasons) and are now almost completely covered by soil and grass, or because the inscriptions are illegible.

I have of course also photographed war graves from the second world war (WWII), which I will put on this website after completing the WWI graves.