Welcome to the Machen First World War Memorial Site

The Machen War Memorial - November 2002.

Machen is a small village in South Wales that is situated half-way between the larger towns of Caerphilly and Newport

In 1914, the Parish of Machen comprised the villages of Upper and Lower Machen and Rhyd-y-Gwern. The combined population of the Parish was around 2,500. Like many similar villages in Wales, the impact of the Great War on the village of Machen must have been enormous. By mid 1916 there were over one hundred and fifty local men in the armed services, by the end of the war the figure would have been far greater. The loss of the 29 men who died was a massive blow to a small village community. It is to their memory that this site is dedicated.

I have spent many hours gathering the information for this site - interviewing relatives of those commemorated here, researching the records at the PRO.etc. Any errors or omissions are entirely my responsibility. Spelling of all names and locations in this book are as contained in the official records (including many obvious errors), Soldiers Died, Commonwealth war Graves Commission and individual records held by the Public Records Office, Kew.

I am always looking for addition material to enhance the site, so if you have any information, photographs or comments that could be used, please email John Rawlins, rawjon@aol.com.

I hope you find the site interesting and it does justice to those to whom it is dedicated.