Welsh women in the war

[ellen jones]

Hi does anyone have any stories or information about Welsh women during the war? I am doing a research project with a primary school in New Tredegar Wales and am trying to find out some stories about local people that the children would be able to relate to

[knittinganddeath]

You could search the Welsh newspaper archive: https://newspapers.library.wales/

As in other countries, women knitted and sewed for the troops. They also became nurses.

For example:

Swansea Nurse in Serbia - extracts from her diary

At Port Talbot, an English visitor was knitting when she was attacked by local women who thought she was a German spy: KNITTING-NOT SPYING ENGLISH LADY BADLY USED BY CROWD OF WOMEN

Knitting class in New Tredegar - "A most commendable movement has been initiated at New Tredegar.... These two young ladies have inaugurated, at St. Dingat's Vestry, a knitting class for the purpose of making woollen wraps, gloves, etc., for the soldiers at the front..."

 

Since you are working with kids, it may also be of interest that children contributed to the war effort as well, e.g.:

Giving 'em socks - schoolgirls in Abergavenny knit socks for soldiers

 

Edited 5 hours ago by knittinganddeath

[PRC]

According to the Red Cross WW1 Volunteers database a Mrs Sylvia Reed, of 4 Derlwyn Street, New Tredegar, served as a VAD Nursing sister at Caerphilly Red Cross Hospital from October 1916, (incorrectly transcribed as 1918, but the original card is attached to the entry) to April 1919. She was on Ward Work.
https://vad.redcross.org.uk/record?rowKey=172915

The 1911 Census of England & Wales, taken on the 2nd April 1911, has a Sylvia Ann Reed, aged 33 and born Tredegar, who was recorded living at 4 Derlwyn Street, Phillips Town, New Tredegar. A married woman, she lived there with her husband of 12 years, the 36 year old Joseph Reed, an above ground stationary winding engine driver from Bellwas, Monmouthshire. The couple state their union has produced 6 children, all of whom were then still alive and living with them. Alfred James, (11), Samuel Ivor, (9), Ruby Alicson, (7), Joseph Elick, (5), Thomas Leonard, (3) and Clarice Sylvia, (3 months) are all shown as born New Tredegar. There are no Reed's on the New Tredegar War Memorial or the 1918 Absent Voters, so possibly Alfred followed his father into working at the colliery, and father Joseph was retained at the pit on work essential to the nations' war effort. http://www.newtredegar-ww1.org.uk/home.htm

The family are still recorded in the area on the 1921 Census of England & Wales, (subscription access on FindMyPast, but many universities \ colleges as well as local public library servies subscribe to either FindMyPast or Ancestry, sometimes both, so could be worthwhie checking out. That would also be likely to also give access to the British Newspaper Archive, which is otherwise a subscription website).

When Sylvia passed away in 1953 it looks like she was still residing at 4 Derlwyn Street, (death notice in the edition of the Merthyr Express dated 4th July 1953, available via the British Newspaper Archive website).

4 Derlwyn Street, New Tredegar June 2021 courtesy Google streetviews.

The British Newspaper Archive has a number of articles relating to the hospital.

Cheers,
Peter