9 crosses (7 recorded)

Location: St Katherine & St Peter’s Church, Hamilton Terrace, Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, SA73 3JU

St Katherine & St Peter’s Church serves as the Parish Church for Milford Haven and contains a wide range of memorials to local servicemen who fell in the Great War. Full details of these memorials can be found on the excellent web site, West Wales War Memorial Project, covering the research conducted by Steven John. A link is below:

The web site and its contents are cited in this report with the kind permission of Steven.

The most striking memorial is probably The Altar of Remembrance, currently housed in The Memorial Chapel, which is located to the left on entering the main body of the church. (The photo below shows the gates to the Memorial Chapel.). A framed notice (photo below) outlines the rationale for the Altar stating that “the Wooden Crosses hanging on the wall kept vigil over some of the graves for a period of seven years in France, Belgium and Bagdad—–”. This would cross-reference with material held in Pembrokeshire Record Office, and kindly supplied by the ex-archivist, which covers the dedication of the altar in 1924 by the vicar of St Katherine & St Peter’s, the Rev. Canon Edmund Howells.

Inside the chapel, hanging from and propped against the walls, are 23 crosses- the majority of which are similar in design of white painted wood with black paint to the bottom stake section. (Photos below show the crosses ranged around the Chapel walls). Of the 23 crosses, 9 contain GRU or aluminium name tags, with the remainder relating predominately to naval and merchant navy personnel lost at sea or soldiers returned from the front and subsequently dying from injuries. Details of all the individuals named on the crosses can be found at the link below—cited with permission of the author.

It is fair to assume that the crosses containing GRU tags or aluminium tags are original battlefield crosses, although many of the tags have undergone restoration and over-painting. In addition, 2 of the crosses were located too high on the wall for measurements etc to be taken, (see photo below) so the report below covers the 7 crosses which were accessible.

http://www.wwwmp.co.uk/pembrokeshire-war-memorials/milford-haven-st-katherine-s-church-war-memorial/


Cross 1.

GRU tag at the top—aluminium strip with wording GRU

3 aluminium strips affixed with nails to the centre-beam of the cross

Strip 1: 18694 PTE BROWNHILL

Strip 2: 5th WILTSHIRE REGT

Strip 3: DIED 28-8-16

Measurements
Shaft Height: 1160 mm Beam width: 540 mm Width of wood: 75 mm Thickness or depth: 50mm

Additional Information:
The cross is currently free-standing against the wall, although there is a hook affixed to the reverse. The cross is over-painted white with black paint to the bottom stake section and the aluminium strips bearing the details have been over-painted and restored with black paint. (see photo below for details) Given the over-painting it was not possible to state whether the cross has been inserted in the ground or to state the condition of the wood underneath the paint.


Cross 2

GRU tag at the top—aluminium strip with wording GRU

4 aluminium strips affixed to the centre beam

Strip 1: 54031 PTE J BURN

Strip 2: 4th ELCA

Strip 3: Killed in Action

Strip 4: 2nd NOV 1918

Measurements
Shaft Height: 1130 mm Beam width: 400 mm Width of wood: 70 mm Thickness or depth: 20mm

Additional Information:
The cross is currently free-standing, but there is a hook for hanging affixed to the rear. The cross is over-painted white with black paint to the bottom stake. The aluminium strips bearing the details have been heavily over-painted and restored, and whilst the name cited on the aluminium strips reads BURN, the actual name, as revealed through reference to CWGC data, is BURR. It was not possible to state the condition of the wood under the over-painting or whether it had been inserted in the ground.


Cross 3:

IWGC tag at the top—aluminium strip with wording IWGC

3 aluminium strips affixed to the centre beam

Strip 1: 48828 PTE L HODGKINSON

Strip 2: 1/S WALES BRDRS

Strip 3: 29-8-18

Measurements
Shaft Height: 880 mm Beam width: 410 mm Width of wood: 70 mm Thickness or depth: 30mm

Additional Information:
The cross is affixed to the wall with a hook, and is over-painted white with black paint to the bottom stake. The aluminium strips bearing the details have been over-painted in black paint but there is no sign of restoration to the actual strips, unlike some of the other crosses. It was not possible to state whether the cross had been inserted in the ground due to the over-painting. The cross is in poor condition with obvious signs of rot and mould developing on the surface despite the over-painting. This could well be the consequence of the dampness within the Memorial Chapel and evidence of water penetration within the walls. Of note is the fact that some of the crosses have been removed from the walls-evidenced by the outline of crosses on some of the walls.


Cross 4:

GRU tag at the top—aluminium strip with wording GRU

5 aluminium strips affixed to the centre beam

Strip 1: In the centre of the centre beam, 150909 GA HOOPER

Strip 2: To the left of the name on the cross arm, RE…IWT

Strip 3: Below RE…IWT, 2-9-17

Strip 4: To the right of the name on the cross arm, RE…IWT

Strip 5: Below RE…IWT, 2-9-17.

(In effect a duplication of the regiment and date of death on aluminium, tags—see photo below)

Measurements
Shaft Height: 950 mm Beam width: 410 mm Width of wood: 70 mm Thickness or depth: 20mm

Additional information: The cross is currently free-standing, but there is a hook for hanging affixed to the rear. The cross is over-painted white with black paint to the bottom stake. The aluminium strips bearing the details have been over-painted. It was not possible to state the condition of the wood under the over-painting or whether it had been inserted in the ground.


Cross 5:

GRU tag at the top—aluminium strip with wording GRU

3 aluminium strips affixed to the centre beam

Strip 1: 633841 PTE A M JEFFS

Strip 2: Ldn REGIMENT

Strip 3: 30-8-18

Measurements
Shaft Height: 1160 mm Beam width: 400 mm Width of wood: 70 mm Thickness or depth: 20mm

Additional information:
The cross is affixed to the wall with a hook, and is over-painted white with black paint to the bottom of the stake. The aluminium strips bearing the details have been over-painted in black paint. It was not possible to state whether the cross had been inserted in the ground due to the over-painting. The cross is in poor condition with obvious signs of mould developing on the surface despite the over-painting.


Cross 6:

At the head of the cross, engraved emblem of the Monmouthshire Regiment, The Dragon, etched in black.

Beneath a GRU tag – aluminium strip with wording GRU

Engraved wording, etched with black paint, on the cross beam:

316215 Rf MARCHANT

MONMOUTHSHIRE Regt.

On the supporting struts:

OCT 8th 1918

KILLED IN ACTION

Measurements
Shaft Height: 1130 mm Beam width: 530 mm Width of wood: 55 mm Thickness or depth: 20mm

The cross is affixed to the wall with a hook, and is over-painted white with black paint to the bottom of the stake. It was not possible to state whether the cross had been inserted in the ground due to the over-painting.


Cross 7:

GRU tag at the top—aluminium strip with wording GRU

I aluminium strip affixed to the cross with the wording: PTE A THOMAS 7/RFUS

To the right of the strip there are 2 distinct screw holes, which look relatively recent.

Measurements:
Shaft Height: 1150 mm Beam width: 410 mm Width of wood: 70 mm Thickness or depth: 20mm

The cross is affixed to the wall with a hook, and is over-painted white with black paint to the bottom of the stake. It was not possible to state whether the cross had been inserted in the ground due to the over-painting. The cross is in poor condition with obvious water penetration and mould to the reverse.

Additional Information.
Further bibliographical information can be found on the West Wales War Memorial Project web site, which is cited in the introduction, along with details of the other WW1 memorials within St Katherine and St Peter’s Church. There are an additional 2 battlefield crosses within this church, which it was not possible to survey given their location high up on the Chapel walls.

E-mail discussions with the retired archivist for Pembrokeshire has revealed that papers relating to the Altar of Remembrance, and the role of the Rev Cannon Edmund JHowells—vicar of St Katherine and St Peter’s(1894-1944), in bringing the crosses back from the Front can be found in the LRO Haverfordwest. It is believed that Rev Howells, angered and upset that the inhabitants of Milford Haven hadn’t reclaimed the crosses, arranged for their return from the battlefields. Howells had lost his own son, Edmund Sydney Howells, Lieutenant, Royal Flying Corps, in a training accident and had also been deeply moved by the loss of one of his parishioners and ex-choir boy, Arthur Merchant Jeffs (his cross is within the Memorial Chapel). These facts perhaps explain his desire to repatriate the crosses and honour the sacrifice. Rev Howells is also known to have made personal pilgrimages to Flanders, and the sentiments captured in one of his sermons sheds light on individual and collectives responses to grief and mourning in the post-1918 period:

A long journey brought me to the spot where dear Arthur Jeffs is resting. Arthur was a real St Katherine’s Boy………The day came when Arthur heard the call to take up another cross, and he took it with both his hands, though that cross took him from the home and the church he loved, until he laid it down in a soldier’s grave in Flanders. Finding his grave one evening, I knelt and told him how much we loved him, and he seemed to be very near one at that moment.1

Survey conducted 9th &10th December 2016 by Alison Wilken

1 Davies, P (2010), St Katherine and St Peter-The parish church of Milford Haven, (Cleddau Press Ltd: Pembrokeshire), p40