Abertillery war memorial
The town’s main war memorial was unveiled in December 1926 to commemorate c.400 local people who had died in the First World War. Panels listing those who died in the Second World War were added in 1954.
The statue of the soldier is a copy of one made by George Havard Thomas for the war memorial in Waterhead, near Oldham. Agnes Dolman, of the Women’s Citizens Association in Abertillery, had seen that war memorial when visiting Oldham. She later met the sculptor in London and asked him if he could provide a copy of the figure for Abertillery.
The Women’s Citizens Association wanted the war memorial to convey a sense of sacrifice, rather than victory.
Agnes, whose husband Arthur was a solicitor, was the treasurer of the appeal which raised over £1,300 for the war memorial, including donations from families which had emigrated to the USA from Abertillery.
In 2023 the public donated towards the cost of a mural on the gable end of the house behind the war memorial. Street artist Tee2Sugars painted an image of a soldier kneeling at a comrade’s grave.
With thanks to Graham Bennett and to Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council.
Postcode: NP13 1DR View Location Map
More about the war memorial’s history on Graham Bennett’s website
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