211078 Pte. Idris Howells British Army 17th Battalion "B" Coy Welsh Regiment from:Rhondda Last year, I was lucky enough to discover seven letters on the internet dated from 21 January 1915 - Sept 1915 written by my grandfather, Idris Howells. He was writing to his wife and child in the Rhondda while training around Llandudno and Colwyn Bay before moving on to Prees Heath and later to Aldershot, in preparation to go to The Front. These letters had never been known to me before and it was quite by chance that I 'googled' him one Sunday morning and discovered that someone was trying to link them up with their long lost family.
The letters must have been amongst the house clearance from the family home in the Rhondda in 1978 after my spinster aunt died (the 'child' mentioned in the letters). My father never mentioned that his father had been in the First World War and when I was young, I never thought to ask. I wonder if he even knew. We used to have holidays in Llandudno and would walk all around the Gt Orme and see all the shows at Happy Valley in the 1960s (both landmarks are mentioned in his letters) where Idris did his 12 mile route bashing.
Although the letters reveal a very interesting look at the day to day life in the billet houses of Rhos and the barracks at Prees Heath from a WW1 historian's viewpoint, the most precious aspect for me is a special insight into his character by reading what he says, and how he says it. It's just like I have met him.
He died in 1945 and so I never knew him. I can only say how thrilled I was that a complete stranger, who is very kind, took the trouble to post a note on the internet and then post them to me. It just goes to show how valuable personal documents and items are, and that they must be preserved and passed on, even if you don't want them yourself.
|