30078 Pte T Beynon, South Wales Borderers
Thomas Beynon was born to Thomas and Annie Beynon, both formerly of Breconshire, in Abercynon around 1893-94 (possibly the second quarter of 1893). Thomas the elder, apparently a bit of a rogue, had accumulated two convictions for drunkeness and three for non-payment of debt by late 1896. In the prison records he was described as a labourer, and in his probate record as a 'hitcher' (Hitcher 1894: a) Person putting waggons into the cage or b) Chief attendant at pit bottom). By 1901 the family, less Thomas the elder who had died in 1898, was living in Capcoch/Abercwmboi, Aberdare. In 1911 Thomas the younger was living at 19 Jenkin Street, Abercwmboi with his paternal grandfather, also Thomas, mother Annie and three sisters, Mary Rebecca, Rose Ann and Jane. His mother worked from home as a confectioner whilst Thomas worked on his own account as a butcher. At some point, presumably after this, he married Mary Catherine, with whom he had a son, also Thomas, born on 10 August 1917.
Thomas Beynon is recorded as enlisting at Mountain Ash and may have spent some time in the Army Reserve before being called up. He served with the 11th Battalion, South Wales Borderers (2nd Gwent), being posted, via infantry base depot, to join them some time probably in mid-1917. He would have potentially served with the battalion at Third Ypres when, as part of the 115th Brigade of the 38th Division, it was in follow-up to the attacking brigades on 31 July 1917 during the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, leapfrogging over them once they had breached the Green Line and proceeding to attack and take the Steenbeck on Messines Ridge, pushing forward to Au Bon Gite, facing Langemarck. The battalion was finally withdrawn on 5 August, having suffered 330 casualties, killed, wounded and missing, returning to the line later in the month to take part in the Battle of Langemarck.
From mid-September to December 1917 the battalion was in the line at Armentieres, working on the line, undertaking much patrolling and wiring and helping train troops of the 4th Regiment, Portuguese Expeditionary Corps. The battalion then spent January resting and training prior to its disbandment.
After the battalion's disbandment on 10 February 1918, Pte Beynon served with the bulk of the battalion in a composite unit under the title of the 2nd Entrenching Battalion.
Entrenching battalions formed in effect holding units, which could keep men usefully employed on defensive works whilst they awaited posting to fighting units under control of the parent formation as gaps arose through wastage and battle casualties. Entrenching battalions were under Army or Corps (rather than divisional) control and were not intended for deployment closer to the front than the Rearward zone, although this appears to have been disregarded once the German Spring Offensive began.
The 2nd Entrenching Battalion was set up at Doulieu under the aegis of the First Army Group of Entrenching Battalions (HQ at Bray) and was under the control of XV Corps. It contained troops from disbanded battalions of a range of units as well as the South Wales Borderers, including East Surreys, King's Liverpool, South Lancashires, Middlesex and Royal Fusiliers. The battalion did not accompany the 38th Division to the Somme, but remained at Merville, at this time a billeting and hospital centre, lying roughly between Hazebrouck, Bailleul, Estaires, and Bethune. They were employed working on rear lines of defence in the La Bassee-Armentieres area in anticipation of the German Spring Offensive. When the Battle of the Lys commenced, the battalion took part in the defence of Merville on 11/12 April 1918, during which time the Germans forced their way into and took the town. The action is described in Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig's Sixth Despatch as follows:
“The Fall of Merville.
(56) On the morning of the 11th April the enemy recommenced his attacks on the whole front, and again made progress. Between Givenchy and the Lawe River the successful resistance of the past two days was maintained against repeated assaults. Between Locon and Estaires the enemy, on the previous evening, had established a footing on the west bank of the river in the neighbourhood of Fosse. In this area and northwards to Lestrem he continued to push westwards, despite the vigorous resistance of our troops. At Estaires, the troops of the 5th Division, tired and reduced in numbers by the exceptionally heavy fighting of the previous three weeks and threatened on their right flank by the enemy’s advance south of the Lys, were heavily engaged. After holding their positions with great gallantry during the morning, they were slowly pressed back in the direction of Merville. The enemy employed large forces on this front in close formation, and the losses inflicted by our rifle and machine-gun fire were unusually heavy. Our own troops, however, were not in sufficient numbers to hold up his advance, and as they fell back and their front gradually extended, gaps formed in the line. Through these gaps bodies of German infantry worked their way forward, and at 6 p.m. had reached Neuf Berquin. Other parties of the enemy pushed on along the north bank of the Lys Canal and entered Merville. As it did not appear possible to clear the town without fresh forces, which were not yet available, it was decided to withdraw behind the small stream which runs just west of the town. This withdrawal was successfully carried out during the evening."
It is likely that it was in the defence of Merville that Pte Beynon was killed, being recorded as presumed dead on or since 11 April 1918. He was aged 25, and is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial along with thirteen of his fellows. His effects, including a War Gratuity of £5, were split between his sister, Mary and his widow, who also received a pension of 20/5 a week, effective from 16 December 1918 for their son, Thomas. By this time the whole family was living at 19 Jenkins Street, Abercwmboi.
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