Tag: First World War

The Pant War Memorial

by J Ann Lewis

Ninety-five years ago today, on 4 July 1926, General Marden unveiled the Pant War Memorial, with about 1,300 people in attendance and with loud speakers and microphones were in place for the event. Pant was the second village in the area to erect a memorial to the men killed in the First World War.

The Memorial Committee was inaugurated in 1920; house-to-house collections were organised and many promises of weekly contributions were made, but due to the coal strike of 1921, and the trade depression that followed, the final cost of £800 was not quite met. The local inhabitants had paid the bulk of the money, and the school-children contributed largely through the many concerts organised by the staff. Also mentioned for their donations were: Merthyr Football Club, the directors of the Victoria Cinema and the Oddfellows Hall (where the concerts were held).

Mr F. J. Bateson released the ground he had rented from Messrs Guest, Keen and Nettlefold, enabling them to give the ground, previously owned by Daniel Thomas, stonemason, for the memorial. Before the memorial could be erected, the urinal built in 1906 had to be moved to the other side of Caeracca Bridge.

The Memorial is built mainly of Portland stone, with the side wing walls and steps leading to the cenotaph of local limestone. The bronze plate centrepiece reveals the names of local men who were killed during the conflict.

Designed by Mr C. H. C. Holder, a curator at Cyfarthfa Museum, the sculpture is a monument to the skill of Councillor F. J. Bateson from Pant and his assistants. The Mayor, Alderman D. Davies J. P., another Pant resident, accepted the deed as a gift from Mr S. J. Lloyd, Secretary of the Memorial Committee. The mayor had actually lost his son in the War, and his name is commemorated on the plaque.

General Marden, in his response, thanked the Dowlais Male Voice Party for “the most wonderful singing he had ever heard”. The march to Pant was led by the Municipal Band and the G.K.N. Dowlais Silver Band.

A second plaque was added to the memorial to honour the men of the village who died during the Second World War.

Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

To the left hand side of the main memorial is another plaque honouring the men who had been employed at the I.C.I. Factory at Dowlais who died in the Second World War. These were:

  • Simon Davies
  • William Evans
  • Thomas John Davies
  • Norman Ernest Freshwater
  • Cameron Meredith
  • Glyndwr Price
  • Frank Wills

Jones Brothers (Treharris) Ltd.

The following article is reproduced here courtesy of Peter Gould.

After the end of the First World War, John Jones was provided with a motorcar by his father, which he hired out as a means of livelihood. One of three brothers, he had been gassed in the War, and sadly died a few years later, however, not before the idea of providing charabancs in the district had taken hold. The brothers each purchased a new chassis on which they put second-hand bodies, the first vehicle taking to the road in 1919. By the end of the following year they had three vehicles and the business gradually developed.

In August 1921 a service from Treharris to Pontypridd was commenced, with another route to Nelson in 1925. At this time the brothers were trading as the Commercial Bus Service from premises at the Commercial Hotel, Treharris.

We think the driver was Howell Perrin from Gresham place not sure who the conductor was. (pic courtesy of W Phillips and Tony Evans)

To cope with the extra services two Thornycroft A1’s with Norman 20-seat bodywork were purchased during 1925.

By 1928 an additional route to Bedlinog had opened and more vehicles acquired, including two Thornycroft SB’s with Hall-Lewis B26D bodywork and two Leyland A13’s with Leyland 26-seat bodywork.

In March 1930 Jones Brothers introduced a short-lived service between Merthyr Tydfil and Pontypridd, which ceased shortly afterwards because of opposition from Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council. From August 1930 the company was incorporated as Jones Brothers (Treharris) Ltd. By 1931, however, other operators, including Imperial Motor Services of Abercynon, Aberdare Motor Services and Gelligaer UDC, were running along parts of Jones Brothers routes.

Under the 1930’s Road Traffic Acts Jones Brothers were granted operating licences for the following routes;

Nelson – Trelewis – Treharris – Pontypridd, and
Bedlinog – Hollybush – Nelson – Pontypridd.

Other routes were also applied for, including one to Tredegar, but were unsuccessful, however, in November 1932 another route from Blackwood to Pontypridd serving Treharris, Nelson, Ystrad Mynach and Pontllanfraith was granted, although the licence contained clauses protecting existing operators.

For some time Jones Brothers had been operating a joint service with Evans and Williams, originally a competitor, but their application to take over the route was denied and it passed to Imperial Motor Services.

By the onset of World War II the fleet had grown and had included examples of AJS, Dennis, Leyland, Lancia, Vulcan and Thornycroft vehicles. (It was reported that Jones Brothers had acquired an ex-London General Omnibus Company B-type open-top double-decker in the early years of the company, but that the vehicle was disliked and returned to LGOC. Whether it actually operated in service is unknown, but if so it would have been the only double-decker operated). During the War the inevitable Bedford utility vehicles made an appearance, including several OWB models. An interesting purchase in 1942 was an AEC Q, originally new to Corona Coaches of London in 1935, which gave several years of service with Jones Brothers before being withdrawn.

The Company operated in a livery of maroon and brown with cream lining.

On 1st November 1945, the stage carriage business was sold jointly to Caerphilly UDC, Gelligaer UDC, Pontypridd UDC and the West Monmouthshire Omnibus Board, with ten vehicles passing to these four operators, who ran the ex-Jones Brothers routes jointly.

A single vehicle, Dennis Lancet II (No.4; HB5236) now with Francis (of Swansea) C32C bodywork was retained by Jones Brothers who continued to operate the coaching side of the business until 1958, when it finally ceased.

A Jones Bros bus outside the old Merthyr Police Station. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

To read the original article, please use the following link – 

http://www.petergould.co.uk/local_transport_history/fleetlists/jones.htm

A Whimsical Tale

Here is a little story to make you smile, courtesy of Mansell Richards……

Two Merthyr miners in the days following the  First World  War, met regularly on Brecon Road, after a day’s work underground, and the relaxing tin bath scrub, in front of the fire. One hailed from the community of Caepantywyll, the other from Georgetown. The conversation went something like this:

“Tom you had a tough time at Gallipoli but I had it even worse on the Somme. Did you know I was captured, taken to a German prisoner of war camp, where I was interrogated regularly and even tortured from time to time? I was regularly questioned by a  fine-looking German officer, a large man topping six feet in height, whose English was perfect, not surprising perhaps, as he had been educated at an English private school. But do you know Tom, really he was quite dull….HE COULDN’T SPELL  CAEPANTYWYLL!!”

Arthur Trystan Edwards

Following on from the last article, here is a bit more about Arthur Trystan Edwards.

Arthur Trystan Edwards was born in Merthyr on 10 November 1884 at the Old Court House. His father, Dr William Edwards, was a School inspector and later Chief Inspector of the Central Welsh School Board.

Following his education at Clifton school, and Hertford College, Oxford, where he took honours in Mathematical Moderations, in 1907 he became articled to the prominent architect Sir Reginald Bloomfield, R.A. (who designed, among other things, the Menin Gate in Ypres), who he reverentially referred to as ‘The Master’, and in 1911 he joined the department of civic design at Liverpool University.

In 1915, however, with the First World War raging, he joined the Royal Navy as a ‘hostilities only’ rating. He enjoyed his life in the navy so much that he spent the next twelve years of peace as a rating in the R.N.V.R. and he considered his naval experiences as one of the principal cultural influences of his life.

At the end of the War, Edwards joined the Ministry of Health, then responsible, among other things, for housing policy, and there he remained for six years.

In 1921 he published ‘The Things Which Are Seen: A Philosophy of Beauty and in 1924 he published ‘Good and Bad Manners in Architecture’ in which he urged architects to respect the neighbourhood in which they designed their buildings.

He was ahead of his time, too, in founding the Hundred New Towns Association, but even his energetic and rumbustious campaigning failed to make any significant impression until the Royal Commission on the Geographical Distribution of the Industrial Population, the Committee on Land Utilisation, the New Towns Committee and the Royal Commission on Population showed that at last official thought was moving towards his point of view. He gave evidence before all these bodies and their reports show how far his influence had begun to tell.

He prepared valuable plans for an auxiliary inner by-pass at Oxford above the top of Christchurch Meadow and designed schemes for the extension of the Palace of Westminster across Bridge Street, with its fine roof terrace and minimum demolition, all of which could have brought great benefit to the nation.

In 1925 the Chadwick Trustees awarded him £250 for research into the question of density of houses in large towns. His report, Modern Terrace Housing, was published in 1946 and was much criticised on the ground that his projected density was too high.

In 1953 he published his ‘A New Map of the World: The Trystan Edwards Projection’, an attempt to solve the problem of projecting the spherical surface of the earth on to a flat surface, a problem which by its very nature is incapable of satisfactory solution, followed in 1972 by ‘The Science of Cartography’.

After retiring to Wales and his home town he contributed to the regional studies published by Robert Hale with papers on Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda and the Valleys; ‘Merthyr-Rhondda, the Prince and Wales of the Future’ appeared in 1972. He returned to architecture in 1968 and published ‘Tomorrow’s Architecture: The Triple Approach’. He continued to write well into old age and in 1970 he published Second Best-boy: The Autobiography of a Non-Speaker.

Among his other books are ‘Architectural Style’ (1925); ‘Sir William Chambers’ (1926), ‘The Second Battle of Hastings’ 1939-45 (1970) and ‘How to Observe Buildings’, (1972),

His small stature, mercurial temperament, genial presence and sharp wit were proverbial and part of his Welsh background. His fellow architects thought highly of him as a pioneer in town planning and as a man who inspired social developments in Britain which won world acclaim. He was FRIBA, FRTPI, FRGS.

He married in 1947 Margaret Meredyth, daughter of Canon F. C. Smith. She died in 1967 and he led a lonely life until his death aged 88 at St Tydfil’s Hospital on 29 January 1973.

Penywern

by Carolyn Jacob

Penywern was a typical industrial village built for the workers of the Ivor Works in 1839. Here was the permanent barracks for the Volunteers. After the Merthyr Rising of 1831 soldiers were permanently barracked at Penywern to keep an eye on the growing town of Merthyr Tydfil. On the tithe schedule of 1850 the owner of the land here was the Dowlais Iron Company.

A section of the 1850 Tithe Map showing the barracks in Penywern

At first all there was in Penywern were the Barracks, as is shown on the 1850 Tithe Map, however by the 1875 Ordnance Survey map Penywern had developed and Lower Row and Upper Row are shown. The reservoirs and ponds which once fed water into the Dowlais Works are situated in this area. These are now of great historical significance, especially as so little now remains of the great Dowlais Works.  There are 2 large and 2 small ponds east of Penywern and also a reservoir to the south.

A section of the 1875 Ordnance Survey Map. Two of the reservoirs can be clearly seen.

This was a self-sufficient community and there were a number of shops here. Late nineteenth century directories show that Morgan Evans was a baker, grocer, tea dealer at number 4 Penywern. The working men of the area were mainly employed in coal mining. The community built their community church vestry during the General Strike of 1926, when so many skilled men were force to be idle due to the national economic climate.

Gwyn Alf Williams

 

The famous historian Gwyn Alf Williams was born in Lower Row in a cottage belonging to his grandmother, Mrs Morgan. In 2005 the Dic Penderyn Society and the Merthyr Tydfil Heritage Trust erected a plaque on the walls of this property in commemoration of the birth of Gwyn Alf.

 

There was quite a large Spanish community here before the First World War. The Spaniards who settled here from 1900 onwards built Alphonso Street and King Carlos Street.

Alphonso Street. Photo courtesy of http://www.alangeorge.co.uk/index.htm

The exposed height of this area means that it is very vulnerable when there are any falls of snow.  During the severe winter of 1947 a train at Penywern became snowbound for several days.

This village has undergone many changes in recent years; the Tre-Ivor Arms public house, now closed was once called the Ivor Arms. Penywern Chapel, was an Independent Chapel, but it was demolished in the late 1990s, and today modern houses are on its former site.

Penywern Chapel

Harry Goodwin

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of another notable Merthyr citizen, yet someone who is quite forgotten – the first-class cricketer Harry Goodwin.

Harry Smyth Goodwin was born at Brynheulog Villa in Thomastown on 30 September 1870, the son of Albert Goodwin, a school-master originally from Monmouth. He was educated at prep school in Bournemouth before attending Rossall School in Fleetwood, Lancashire.

It was whilst he was at Rossall School that he first began playing cricket. According to records, in these school matches he batted in the top order, scoring five and 16 against Loretto School on 7 June 1889 while batting at three. He also took a five-wicket haul with his bowling though his bowling style is not recorded, and he did not bowl during his first class career. On 21 June he played against Malvern College and scored 72 and 15 opening the batting, but did not bowl.

Goodwin was bitten by the cricket bug, and decided to embark on a career as a cricketer, making his first class debut on 25 May 1896 playing for Gloucestershire against Sussex (a team which included the ageing but legendary W. G. Grace), where he batted and number six, making 10 runs on his first outing. He played again that year against Middlesex on 18 June at Lord’s.

In 1897, he played once again for Gloucestershire, enjoying his most prolific season. He played ten games, scoring 239 runs at 21.72 including a high score of 44 not out which came against Sussex on 2 August, overshadowed once more by a Grace century. He also made 36 against Somerset on 19 August, however he was unable to make any lasting impact and played only one match in the 1898 season: scoring five against Sussex on 30 May.

He did return more convincingly in 1899, playing five games including his career-high score of 46 made against Somerset on 28 August at Taunton, which was the highest score of the innings, and also a game against a touring Australian side though in this match he only made six. However, a batting average of 12.50 and only 100 runs scored in the season was not enough to secure a regular place in the Gloucestershire line-up. Goodwin managed only nine runs from his three games in 1900, and played only one match in 1901.

In 1902, he decided to give up his cricket career, and in May of that year, he joined the staff at the prestigious Christ’s Hospital School. Christ’s Hospital was founded in 1552, receiving its first Royal Charter in 1553. Although following the public school tradition, Christ’s Hospital has been, since its establishment, a charity school, with a core aim to offer children from humble backgrounds the chance of a better education. Originally situated at Newgate, London, when Harry Goodwin began his teaching career, the school had just moved, in May 1902, to a newly purpose-built establishment at Horsham, Sussex.

A tribute to Goodwin in ‘The Blue’, the official magazine of Christ’s Hospital, written at the time of his retirement describes one of his first teaching experiences:

“He was then appointed to Coleridge A as its first Junior House Master, and the ‘Prep’ was the scene of his first teaching activities. Some will remember his astonishment at finding in his form a diminutive cockney, who had never seen a cow. Accordingly the small boy was sent out to an adjacent field to inspect a herd grazing there. Asked on his return what he thought of the cow, he replied, ‘Please sir, it’s like an ‘orse with ‘orns’.”

The Blue, June 1930

In 1906, he returned briefly to cricket, again playing for Gloucestershire, playing four games that year. In 1907, however, he played six matches and reached 117 runs for the season and a best of 34 made against Essex on 5 August. His final first class match came against a South African side that was on an England tour, where he made a pair – two scores of zero. He was dismissed each time by South African Test cricketer Ernie Vogler. After this brief return to the world of cricket, he returned to his teaching career.

When the First World War broke out, despite his age (he was 43 at the time), he immediately volunteered for active service. At first rejected on account of his age, he eventually became a private in the Public Schools Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, soon being transferred to the Royal Fusiliers as a Lieutenant, quickly moving up the ranks to Captain then Major. Whilst serving on the front-line in France he was badly wounded in the arm by machine gun fire, and following his recovery, he became Director of Graves’ Registration and Enquiries until he was demobilised.

Following his demobilisation, he returned to Christ’s Hospital, and in 1920 married Ada White. He continued to teach at the school until his retirement in 1930. Harry Goodwin died at the school where he spent most of his adult life on 13 November 1955.

Christ’s Hospital staff in 1922. Harry Goodwin is at the centre, sitting on the ground at the front.

Many thanks to Christ’s Hospital Museum for providing the photographs and invaluable information for this article.

Thanks too to Mike Donovan for his help in researching Harry Goodwin’s family records.

R. C. Wallhead, M.P.

Following on from the last post, we’ll have a look at S O Davies’ predecessor as Merthyr’s Member of Parliament – R C Wallhead.

Richard Christopher Wallhead (he later changed his middle name to Collingham) was born in London on 28 December 1869. He was educated at St Edward’s Elementary School at Romford before beginning his career as a clerk with the Great Eastern Railway. He then re-trained as a decorator and designer.

Remembering some of the privations of his youth, he became increasing drawn towards socialism, and he joined the Independent Labour Party, under the leadership of Keir Hardie, becoming an active member, and was noted as a successful orator on behalf of the party. In 1906 he was appointed manager of the ‘Labour Leader’, the official publication of the party. With the headquarters of the publication housed in Manchester, Wallhead moved to the city, eventually becoming a member of Manchester City Council in 1919, this despite the fact that, as a committed opponent of World War I, he was detained in 1917 under the Defence of the Realm Act, following an anti-war speech he delivered in South Wales.

Wallhead unsuccessfully contested Coventry in the 1918 general election for the Labour Party, to which the I.L.P. was affiliated, but was elected as chairman of the Party in 1920. In 1921 he resigned his seat on the Manchester City Council to devote his time to his own political career, and to the administrative affairs of the Party.

In 1920 he represented the I.L.P. on the British Labour delegation to Russia to investigate conditions there, where he met Lenin. He would subsequently visit Russia again in 1925.

British Labour delegation to Russia. Wallhead is in the centre.

In 1922, he contested his former mentor, Keir Hardie’s seat at Merthyr. The previous incumbent Edgar Rees Jones, the Liberal candidate, chose not to stand for re-election, and Wallhead, standing as a Labour candidate beat his only rival in the election, the Independent candidate, Richard Mathias, with 53% of the vote. He was subsequently one of only five I.L.P. M.P.s to retain their seats in the 1931 general election, after Labour withdrew their support, and he initially supported the party’s disaffiliation from Labour.

In 1933, however, Wallhead, having become increasing disillusioned with the I.L.P.’s gravitation towards the Soviet policies of violence since its cessation from the Labour Party the previous year, resigned from the I.L.P and joined the Labour Party.

By this time however, concern had been growing for a few years about Wallhead’s health, and he died at his home in Welwyn Garden City on 27 April 1934. Following his death, Clement Attlee, the then acting head of the Labour Party said:

“Dick Wallhead will be mourned by many thousands in the Labour Movement, for he was a man who sacrificed himself to the cause of Socialism….There was no more popular and effective exponent of Socialism than Wallhead in the days when the foundations of the Labour Party were being laid.”

New Fire Station

The article transcribed below appeared in the Merthyr Express 95 years ago today….

MERTHYR’S FIRE STATION

Opening of New Building and Medical Comforts Depot

On Thursday afternoon the Mayor of Merthyr (Coun. F. A. Phillips), in the presence of a large number of local ladies and gentlemen, opened the new Fire Station for the borough, which is erected on a site adjoining the Central Police Station, the cost of which was about £1,800.  Accommodation is provided on the ground floor for the fire engine and the police ambulance car.  The first floor will be used as a recreation room, and this has been equipped and furnished out of the Police Athletic Club’s funds.  The third floor has been fitted up as a medical comforts’ department, under the Merthyr Centre of the St. John Ambulance Brigade.

A number of the nurses were present wearing their uniform, under the supervision of Mr D. M. Davies, the Chief Constable, who is also the Commissioner of the Merthyr Centre of the St. John Ambulance Brigade; Miss Williams, the supt.; and Mr Harry Jones, the corps. supt.  The Mayor, who was accompanied by Mrs. Phillips, the Mayoress, was supported by members and officials of the Corporation; Lady Herbert Lewis, O.B.E., of Cardiff, who later opened the medical comforts’ department and Miss Herman, of the Priory of Wales.

A large and interested crowd of spectators assembled outside the fire station, and before the opening ceremony the Brigade gave a demonstration of how promptly they can act in case of a call being received.  The fire bell sounded, the large doors swung open, and the motor fire engine, fully manned, darted out of the station and stopped just outside the entrance of the market.  At the same moment another door was opened, and the ambulance car, fully manned, left the other department, and made its way to High-street.  Inspector J. C. Lamb was in charge of the Brigade.

The Chief Constable was Master of Ceremonies, and after this interesting demonstration he asked Mr. Edmund Rees (the architect) to present the Mayor with a miniature fireman’s axe, and the key with which to formally open the building.

The Mayor unlocked the large doors amid applause, and Ald. W. Burr, the Deputy-Mayor, unlocked the doors of the ambulance entrance amid a similar demonstration.

The Mayor said: I congratulate the Architect (Mr. T Edmund Rees) and all others concerned for this beautiful structure just opened.  For many years this part of the building has not been used owing to its unsuitability for any purpose.  The ground upon which it stands is freehold, and is the property of the Corporation.  This beautiful fire station will greatly add to the efficiency of the Fire Brigade, being attached to the Police Station itself, and only a few yards from the firemen’s bedrooms.  Heating apparatus will be fixed later, and a certain temperature can be maintained throughout the winter, whereas now in the fire station just vacated it is almost a matter of impossibility to start a 69 horse-power engine during the winter months owing to the low temperature, with a consequent loss of valuable time; and the most valuable time at a fire is the first few minutes after the discovery of an outbreak.  (Applause.)

The Chief Constable’s two pretty little daughters then presented beautiful bouquets to lady Lewis and the Mayoress.

Inside the building the Mayoress (Mrs. Phillips) was presented by P.S. Edward Jones, Chairman of the Police Athletic Club, with a pair of silver scissors with which to cut a ribbon at the foot of the staircase leading to the recreation room, where she subsequently unveiled a framed memorial to six Merthyr policemen who were killed in the Great War.

The Memorial was dedicated by the Rector of Merthyr, the Rev. J. Richards-Pugh, R.D., and the “Last Post” was sounded by P.C. F. Standard, one of four brothers who are members of the Merthyr Force, and who went through the war.

The Mayor said: As Chairman of the Watch Committee, I am very pleased that at long last the members of our Police Force have a club room for their own use.  Hitherto the only room at their disposal was the messroom downstairs, which will only hold about a dozen.  This messroom was used for breakfast room, dining room, supper room, etc.; and all games and meetings of necessity had to be held there.  In appreciation of the provision of this club room the Police themselves purchased this billiard table, the beautiful and appropriate pictures which you see on that wall; the War Memorial in memory of their comrades who fell in the Great War; and the clock – costing altogether £103 0s. 6d.  This beautiful memorial was executed throughout by Mr. E.A. Gilbert, of Rhymney, a postman; and I must congratulate him on his work.  Mr. Gilbert is well known throughout the land, and especially at the Royal Academy, where he was awarded prizes for similar work; also at National Eisteddfodau.  The names you see on it are those of highly respected officers of our Police Force.  Four of them belonged to the “Old Contemptibles, viz.: Tom Evans, Stubbs, Leonard and Clarke.  Lovis and Morgan were volunteers, and they joined the army in 1915.  It may interest you to know that 47 members of our Police Force served during the Great War, leaving 40 behind to “keep the home fires burning.”  The Police, out of their own funds, gave the dependents of the six men who did not come back £50 each.  (Applause.)

Lady Lewis then formally opened the medical comforts’ department, and was presented with a silver key by Miss Williams, the lady supt. of the Nursing Division.

Among others who took part in the proceedings were Ald. F. Pedler, Councillors Isaac Edwards, F. T. James, H. M. Lloyd, David Parry, B. J. Williams, Miss C. Jones (Matron of Mardy Hospital) and Miss Templeman (Supt. Nurse of the Merthyr Infirmary).

Coun. Parry proposed, and Coun, B. J. Williams seconded, a vote of thanks to the Mayor for opening the building; Coun. F. T. James moved a similar compliment to the Mayoress, which Coun. H. M. Lloyd seconded; and Miss C Jones, Matron of Mardy Hospital, moved a vote of thanks to Lady Lewis, which was seconded by Miss Templeman, of the Merthyr Infirmary.

Many thanks to Tracy Barnard for transcribing this article.

A photograph taken in the early 1970s, showing (left to right) Merthyr Central Police Station, Merthyr Fire Station and Market Square Chapel. Photo courtesy of the Alan George Archive

Army Boxing

by Barrie Jones

Merthyr Tydfil is known for producing boxers of British, European and World renown, my maternal grandfather, Michael Leahan, was not of that class but he was a boxer of some talent in the short time that he competed.

Michael was born in 33 Cellars, Pontstorehouse, Merthyr Tydfil of second generation Irish parents and such was the poverty and dysfunctional family background that he was not expected to survive his birth.

He was baptised at home on the day of his birth, 16th October 1888, but was sufficiently strong enough to receive a church baptism 12 days later and even then his mother, Johanna delayed the registration of his birth until the 28th November.

Michael’s father Patrick was a drinking companion of the notorious pugilist and bully Redmond Coleman, but it his highly likely that he learnt his boxing skills whilst serving in the Second Battalion, Welsh Regiment.  He had enlisted as a boy soldier and then in April 1907 soon after his eighteenth birthday he formally enlisted for the standard seven year term.  At this time the Regiment was stationed in South Africa and it was there in Bloemfontein in 1909 that he won the Army and Navy feather-weight championship.  At this time one of the Battalion’s instructors was Sergeant William John Ranger, a proficient gymnast and holder of the Army and Navy middle-weight championship of 1905.  Sergeant Ranger is more likely to have been the main influence on Michael’s boxing expertise.

The Battalion completed its tour of duty in South Africa in March 1910 and returned to its barracks at Pembroke Dock and it was there that the Regiment prepared to send a group of soldiers to the forthcoming Army and Navy Boxing Championships at Aldershot in the October of that year.  The squad comprised of:

  •           Private King, welter-weight,
  •           Private Leahan, light-weight,
  •           Private Skeets, feather-weight,
  •           Private Skerry, feather-weight, and
  •           Sergeant Ranger, middle-weight.

As part of their preparation and an indication that they thought they had a strong squad of competitors, the Regiment hired the services of Fred Dyer of Cardiff to act as the squad’s trainer and instructor, Dyer was the current light-weight champion of Wales.  In addition, the regiment organised an evening of warm up bouts in the gymnasium at Llanion Barracks between the squad members and local boxers with Dyer refereeing the bouts.  The local press reporter paid a lot more column inches to the bout between Michael and a Li (Elias) Evans: This was a splendid contest, and both men showed not only plenty of stamina but plenty of skill also. Leahan, who when the regiment was stationed at Bloemfontein held the light-weight Army and Navy championship of South Africa, won the bout, and had slightly the better of the exchanges, but in the point of skill there was little in it, and if anything Evans’s footwork was superior.  The Milford lad is a very pretty and clean boxer, and is game too.  His opponent, however, appeared to have a harder punch.  Each round was fought at a rare pace, and it was only in the third round that the soldier scored.  Later, in the evening a backer of the Milford lad challenged Leahan to a 15 rounds contest and this was accepted.

The Championship at Aldershot was held over four days with over 300 entries for the 12 championships.  However, Michael was the only ‘Welshman’ to “survive the punishing early stages”: In the third round of the rank and file light-weights Private Leahan won a good fight against Sergeant Instructor Bradley (Army Gymnastic Staff).  The latter was a cautious fighter, and covered himself well, but Leahan, with well judged leads, got over his guard, and got home left and right on the head and ribs several times in the first and second rounds.  The Sergeant, coming up in the third round a bit ’groggy’, Leahan saw his advantage and took it.  Boxing his opponent all round the ring he had him helpless across the ropes, the referee stopping the fight in the Welshman’s favour halfway through.  In the next series of the same competition Leahan met Private Ronan (2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers) and had all the work cut out to win.  He did so, however in the third round with a terrific right swing on the point.  Ronan coming up very dazed, Leahan forced matters and had Ronan hopelessly beaten when time was called.  In the semi-finals Leahan met Corporal Miller (1st Royal North Lancashire Regiment) and was beaten after a fine struggle.

Miller had been the losing finalist in the previous year’s championship and he ‘found however in Leahan, his strongest opponent, and had to go out all the way to win his way into the final.  Leahan made use of his long reach, and at the end of three very hard rounds against a most experienced fighter he only lost by the smallest margin.  In the final Miller met Sapper O’Neil (Royal Engineers) winning with ease.

Returning to Pembroke Michael had his second bout with Li Evans over 15 rounds for £10 a-side.  An infantryman’s pay was 1s a day, approximately £1.50 a month.  At today’s prices, the purse of £10 is equivalent to just over £1,000.  Michael had an advantage of 10.lb in weight, and this in the course of the 15 rounds told against his opponent, who, despite his cleverness, received some severe punishment in the earlier rounds.  Evans was, perhaps, the more scientific boxer, but Leahan was the harder hitter, and at the end of the 15 rounds was awarded the verdict on points.

The local backer, ‘Professor’ Alf Harris, must have thought that he had a good money earner with these two opponents and on the 26th November promoted another bout over 20 rounds for £20 a-side at his pavilion in Milford Haven.

The building was packed to its utmost capacity.  Leahan scaled 13.lb heavier than Evans.  Evans was knocked down in the eighth round and again in the eleventh round but rose before the call of time on each occasion.  The whole 20 rounds were fought and Leahan was returned the winner on points.  Mr Isaacs, of London, was the referee, whilst Mr H. Stephens acted as timekeeper.

The bouts with Evans are the only professional bouts that I believe my grandfather contested and I presume that his Regiment only allowed him to compete because they were held locally and were good for regimental morale.  I don’t know if he was allowed to keep his winnings!  Michael continued to box for his regiment: In the following October (1911) he competed in the Army and Navy Championships held at the Connaught Drill Hall, Portsmouth, losing on points in the second series of bouts to Leading Seaman Savage (H.M.S. Argyle), and, in April 1913 he fought two bouts at the Bordon Garrison Championships (Hampshire), losing in the final to Driver Evans (141st Battery) by “the smallest possible margin of points”.

In August 1914 Michael’s regiment was part of the British Expeditionary Force that entered the war in France.  In September 1915 Michael received a gunshot wound in the right knee, the wound was serious enough to end his military service and he was discharged on the 6th September 1915, with the rank of Lance-corporal.  Of course his wound also ended his boxing career and he returned to Merthyr Tydfil to work in the coal mines.  After the war my grandfather never enjoyed good health and died from tuberculosis on the 29th May 1928, aged 39 years.