Just outside the village of Devauden in Monmouthshire at Kilgwrrwg, one can find the Church of the Holy Cross. The present church dates from the Norman period, though evidence indicates that there has been a church on the site for much longer. Its antiquity and its wonderful remote location undoubtedly make Holy Cross one of the loveliest churches in Wales. Buried in the churchyard is Able Seaman Richard Morgan who died aged 26 on Armistice Day, 11 November 1918, while serving on board the destroyer HMS Garland and is reputed to be the last British Serviceman to die in the First World War.
Richard Morgan was born on 7th July 1892 and was the son of Albert Morgan, a farmer of Dorlands Kilgwrrwg, and Mary Ann Morgan. Richard lived with a brother and three sisters and on enlistment on 14th February 1916 was a woodcutter. His service record describes him as 5 feet 8 ¼ inches tall, with brown hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion. On joining the Royal Navy Richard was given the rank of Ordinary Seaman and was made Able Seaman in June 1918. He tragically met his death when he drowned after a boat capsized; a committee of enquiry finding that Richard’s death was an accident and that, “no blame was attributable to any of the officers of the ship.”
Was Richard Morgan the last British Serviceman to die in the First World War? The answer to this question is hardly a straightforward one. The first issue to resolve is how one defines the “last death.” If the last death is the last serviceman to die as a consequence of the war, he is certainly not the last as many men died long after the armistice had been signed of wounds and illness suffered in the war. Richard Morgan was also not the only British serviceman to die on 11 November 1918. Hundreds of men died on that day and one historian has calculated that there were 11,000 casualties on Armistice Day, many caused by commanders, who already knew that the armistice would come into effect at 11am, sending their men into action against the enemy.
If the definition of the last serviceman to die means the last man to die before the war officially ended at 11am, then the time of the serviceman’s death is presumably the determining factor. Another issue is whether the unfortunate title of last servicemen to die in the war only applies to those killed as a direct result of military action and not by a cause such as an accident, which although tragic, could occur at any time. The last recorded serviceman killed in action while serving with British forces was a Canadian, Private George Price, who was shot by a German sniper at 10-58pm. Of servicemen from The United Kingdom, Private George Ellison of the Royal Irish Lancers was also killed minutes before the armistice. Remarkably he was a regular soldier who had fought in the war since its outbreak in 1914. He died where he began the war, just outside Mons, and is buried in St Symphorien Cemetery opposite the first British soldier killed in the war, Private John Parr of The Middlesex Regiment. Richard Morgan’s service record does not record the time of his death, though this is presumably recorded in the ship’s log and the record of the committee of enquiry into his death.
Richard Morgan was not the only British sailor to die on 11 November 1918. Seven others died on that day. Four died of sickness; three others died of wounds and were members of the crew of the battleship HMS Britannia which was torpedoed by a German U boat off Gibraltar on 9 November. Perhaps Richard Morgan was the last British Serviceman to die in the war. Perhaps he was the last Welshman to die in the war. Perhaps what is more important is that his death and the death of all others that day was a tragedy of lives cut short on the same day that millions were celebrating peace and the hope that this brought.
Guided Battlefield Tours Ltd organise fully guided tours to First World War sites, including a Somme Tour and an Ypres Tour. For further information click on: www.guidedbattlefieldtours.co.uk
