Holyhead – Disgwylfa Chapel War Memorials

Disgwylfa Chapel was located on London Road in Holyhead. They remembered the men lost during World War One that had an association with the chapel, either because they or their parents had attended the chapel. At least four wooden plaques were erected as an integral part of the memorial organ.

Unusually, they also had plaques to the men who had served and survived from their area around London Road – a unique insight for me. Of 60 men that had served from such a small part of the town, 14 perished, almost a quarter.

The memorial plaques show us – for example – that the Humphreys family of 21, London Road sent 3 sons to war, for only one to ever return.

There are happy endings for some families, like the Hughes family of 13, Lligwy Street who sent 4 sons away to war – and they all survived.

Sadly in 2009, the chapel was demolished on behalf of the owners, Gwynedd Shipping. The War Memorial Organ was ironical – I believe – sold to someone or some company in Germany, but at least some of the plaques with the names were given to Hyfrydle Chapel for preservation.

Lists of those who served in World War One are in a table below the images, I have sorted them by address so you may see the true impact the war had on such a small community. Three-quarters of these men returned after the war. I have been unable to identify some of the fallen either on CWGC website or the War Memorial itself – this maybe because of the scant information to hand. Possibly addresses quoted on the chapel memorials may have changed after marriage or any number of other reasons.

These are the names from the plaques and rolls of honour in Disgwylfa Chapel. Unless ‘Place Buried’ states ‘Survived’ they were killed during the war. I do not know why at least 7 of these men are not mentioned on the Holyhead War Memorial.