264799 Pte. Francis Walter Morgan British Army 2nd Btn. Monmouthshire Regiment from:65 Cathays Terrace, Cathays, Cardiff (d.12th Apr 1918) On 31st of July 1895 Francis Morgan was born at 29 Platinum Street, Roath, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales. His parents were Thomas Morgan (coal labourer) and Florence Annie Morgan, nee Ford.
A casualty of the Great War, Frank Morgan has no known photograph.
The 1901 Census has Frank, aged 8 years, with his parents and many of his siblings at 29 Platinum Street, Roath, Cardiff. His true age was 5 years.
The 1911 Census has Frank, aged 16 years, with his parents and many of his siblings at at 2 Cecil Street, Roath, Cardiff. His occupation is given as shop boy picture frame works.
The Great War saw Frank enlisting in the 2nd Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment as a Private living at 65 Cathays Terrace, Cathays, Cardiff, an address familiar to the contributor.
Circa 1918 Frank's niece (the contributor’s late mother) saw him wringing his hands in despair at the prospect of being returned to the Front as he doubted he would survive. She knew him as Uncle Frank and her childhood recollection of the encounter with him remained with her throughout life. She was aged just 4 years at the time.
On 12th April 1918 Pte. Frank Morgan (aged 22 years), 2nd Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment, was killed in action in France between the River Douve and the towns of Estaires and Furnes. This information originates from his death certificate.
Frank has no known grave and is commemorated amongst three columns of his comrades-in-arms on Panel 10 of the Ploegsteert War Memorial near Mesen (Messines), Belgium as follows;
Monmouthshire Regiment
- Lieutenant Percival R.F.
- Sergeant Edwards W.
- Sergeant Gibbs J.A.
- Sergeant Perry A.E.
- Sergeant Whatley R.
- Corporal Crabb W.
- Corporal Fletcher P.L.
- Corporal Totterdell W.C.
- L/Corporal Brimble H.C.
- L/Corporal Holmes H.
- L/Corporal Pritchard J.
- L/Corporal Thomas W.H.
- L/Corporal Underwood G.
- Private Atkinson H.
- Private Brown A.
- Private Carpenter G.
- Private Chance W.G.
- Private Clarke E.
- Private Cooper J.
- Private Davies A.G.
- Private Davies D.
- Private Day J.
- Private Dixon J.
- Private Donovan J.
- Private Doran E.
- Private Eacups F.W.
- Private Francis G.S.
- Private Gough E.
- Private Green R.W.
- Private Grinter E.G.
- Private Haywood N.
- Private Holland W.
- Private Hollinshead W.
- Private Isherwood E.
- Private James F.
- Private Jenkins E.F.
- Private Jenkins S.
- Private John E.G.
- Private Jones D.G.
- Private Jones S.H.
- Private Lambert C.
- Private Lampard H.C.
- Private Langley J.
- Private Lowe A.
- Private Magness T.
- Private Matthews E.W.
- Private Meadmore E.W.
- Private Michael H.
- Private Miles C.J.
- Private Mitchell L.J.
- Private Mooney. R.
- Private Morgan F.W.
- Private Morgan J.L.
- Private Murray C.
- Private Needs W.
- Private Nicholls F.P.
- Private Pierce E.F.
- Private Porter W.
- Private Reece W.
- Private Rogers S.T.
- Private Rowlands T.
- Private Savory H.L.
- Private Shaw J.A.
- Private Smith H.
- Private Stout J.
- Private Thomas E.
- Private Thomas J.
- Private White G.
- Private Whittaker A.
- Private Whittington H.H.
- Private Willey G.
- Private Williams E.D.
- Private Williams J.F.
- Private Wiltshire E.
- Private Withers J.
The memorial is further inscribed:
"To the glory of God and to the memory of 11447 officers and men of the forces of the British Empire who fell fighting in the years 1914 - 1918 between the River Douve and the towns of Estaires and Furnes whose names are here recorded but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death."
In September 2003 a WW1 battlefield guide informed the contributor's cousin that the 2nd Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment was a Pioneer Battalion and that Francis Morgan was almost certainly killed in the Battle of the Lys, part of the German Spring Offensive of 1918. The Germans knew that the USA was about to enter the conflict with endless resources and that the war would be lost unless they took positive action. Russia was no longer in the war, so Germany used its armies from the Eastern Front to make one final push. In the few weeks of fighting that followed, they gained a large amount of ground at a truly tremendous cost in lives on both sides. It ended mainly because Germany overstretched herself and couldn't keep the Army supplied.
In October 2003 another researcher volunteered the following historical information about Frank and the 2nd Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment:
"Francis would have joined the 2nd Monmouthshire's about 1916/1917. From my records he is not entitled to the 1914 Star or the the 1914-15 Star. He would have received the Victory and War medal and the family a death plaque. You are correct to say that he died at the battle of the Lys. The battalion frontage at this time was over 100 yards. This was held with only 3 companies. At dawn a large German attack took place along the front of the 88th Brigade from Steenwerck Station to Rue du Sac. The Monmouths were in an exposed position and took heavy casualties. Many men were killed by trench mortar and machine gun fire. During the afternoon the regiment was forced to retreat, but a mixed group of men, largely from B company chose to fight until they were totally surrounded. Many men were taken prisoner during the battle."
Further research has determined that on 9th of April 1918 at the Battle of The Lys (the fourth Battle of Ypres) the Germans struck the British sector in Flanders, threatening the important rail junction of Hazebrouck and the Channel ports, German troops quickly breaking through the unprepared British and one Portuguese division.
On 12th of April 1918 Field Marshall Haig forbade further retreat, galvanising British resistance with his order, Every position must be held to the last man: there must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall, and believing in the justice of our cause, each one of us must fight on to the end.
It should be remembered that Frank died on the day of Field Marshall Haig's order and, despite its our and us sentiment, Haig's back was far from the wall and he was never at risk of joining his soldiers in their fight to the end.
Private Francis Walter Morgan (1895-1918) 2nd Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment you have not been forgotten.
RIP Uncle Frank.
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