A 'mystery' Victoria Cross and a stuffed parrot 26 April 2007 William Williams VC. Image © Kenneth Williams Collection. William Williams' medals. Left to right: Victoria Cross, Distinguished Service Medal with second award bar, Great War service medals (1914-15 Star, War Medal, Victory Medal), Defence Medal 1939-45, Coronation Medals (1937 and 1953), France, Médaille Militaire. In 1917 William Williams was awarded the Victoria Cross for his role in the sinking of a German submarine. On 21 July 1917 an Anglesey seaman, William Williams, received the Victoria Cross, Britain's foremost gallantry award. The citation on the award read 'selected by the ship's company of one of H.M. ships to receive the Victoria Cross under Rule 13 of the Royal Warrant'. This vague citation led this and other similar cases to become known as the 'Mystery VCs'. What lay behind it? U-boats and Q-ships During World War I (1914-18), the German Navy attempted to blockade Great Britain, using its submarine (U-boat) fleet to cut off food and vital supplies. One tactic used by Britain to trick the German submarines was to use armed ships disguised as merchant ships. These were known as 'Q-ships'. These ships went to great lengths to ensure that they were attacked, in the hope that the submarine would then surface and expose itself to the hidden guns of the Q-ships. Williams served on several Q-ships and already held the Distinguished Service Medal for his part in the sinking of a German submarine in February 1917. H.M.S. Pargust Williams was awarded the Victoria Cross for his involvement in the sinking of the German submarine UC-29 on 7th June 1917. The H.M.S Pargust was torpedoed and the crew were seen to abandon their disguised Q-ship - complete with a stuffed parrot in a cage - but unknown to the Germans, a small number of men remained hidden on board. For over 30 minutes, Seaman Williams held in place the starboard gun port, its releasing weights having been freed by the torpedo's explosion. His actions prevented premature exposure of the gun until the moment came to open fire when the German submarine eventually surfaced nearby. The achievement of sinking UC-29 was recognized by the award of the Victoria Cross to H.M.S. Pargust, the first time a ship had been honoured under the Rule for rewarding an act of collective gallantry. One officer (Lieutenant R.N. Stuart) and one rating were elected by the crew to receive the award. Williams, whose quick thinking and strenuous effort had saved the day, was the rating. His distinguished career held one more twist: on 8 August 1917, H.M.S. Dunraven (Pargust's successor and another Cardiff ship) was sunk off the French coast after a five-hour battle with another submarine. Williams received a bar (second award) to his DSM for his gunnery work on this occasion: his third gallantry award in under six months! William Williams was discharged from the Royal Naval Reserve in November 1918. He settled in Holyhead and was a founder member of the local branch of the British Legion. He died on 23 October 1965. Background Reading My mystery ships by G. Campbell. Published by Hodder & Stoughton (1928). Sea killers in disguise by T. Bridgeland. Published by Leo Cooper (1999).
Heroic rescue for man dangling from girder 50 meters high 23 April 2007 Edward Medal for bravery James Dally, wearing the Edward Medal. From the Great Western Railway Magazine, September 1915. In October 1914 James Dally saved a colleague from a 52m fall from a viaduct. He was awarded the Edward Medal for his bravery. On 28 October 1914, the Crumlin viaduct, near Newport, south Wales, was being painted by using a staging of planks timber supports. Around 5:00 pm, one of the supports broke, and the foreman, Mr Skevington, fell 52m (175 feet) to his death into the goods yard below. The second man, Thomas Bond, just managed to grip onto the main bridge structure in time, but was left dangling in mid air... Heroic rescue The Crumlin Viaduct. The location of the rescue is marked with a red dot. Bridgeman James Dally, of Crumlin, was nearby, supervising the operation. He immediately crawled out from the gangway on to the diagonal bracings - which were a mere eight centimetres wide: "I asked him to swing his legs in an upward direction, so as to get them around the stretcher, if possible. This he succeeded in doing. I then got hold of Bond's legs; & told him to move one hand at a time & by that means he was drawn nearer to the gangway & when he was near enough I got a better hold of him, & eventually landed him safely on the gangway." According to the London Gazette, "The man would probably have lost his life had it not been for the courage and presence of mind shown by Dally." Bond himself had no doubts: "I was suspended in the air; but if Mr Dally had not been on the gangway at the time, & taken the action he did I could not have saved myself... I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Mr Dally, for had it not been for the encouragement he gave me, & the prompt effort he made, I would have undoubtedly met the same fate as Mr Skevington." Acts of courage in other industries James Dally's Edward Medal, Industry, Second Class (bronze), front view. In the event, Dally was awarded the Edward Medal, which he received from King George V on 12 July 1916. This medal had been created in 1907 to reward "heroic acts performed by miners and quarrymen" and in 1909 its award was extended to acts of courage in other industries. The Crumlin Viaduct was 512m (1,680 feet) long and rose some 60m (200 feet) above the valley of the Ebbw. The viaduct was opened on 1 June 1857 and by 1863 was part of the Great Western Railway network; it was demolished in 1965-66. Background Reading For Those in Peril, by Edward Besly. Published by the National Museums & Galleries of Wales (2004). Gallantry: its public recognition and reward in peace and war at home and abroad by A. Wilson and J. H. F. McEwen. Published by Oxford University Press (1939).
Cardiff – Coal and Shipping Metropolis of the World 18 April 2007 Cardiff: the pre-industrial port. Two sloops lying in the River Taff, as portrayed by Paul Sandby in 1776. Cardiff: the industrial port. An aerial view showing the completed dock system about 1948. A typical Cardiff tramp steamer - the SS Pontwen, built in 1914. The age of depression. Laid-up ships in Cardiff docks about 1930. Cardiff: the port transformed. Modern retail developments now stand where Cardiff once exported coal to the world. Second Marquess of Bute In 1862, 2 million tonnes of coal were exported from Cardiff Docks ; by 1913, this had risen to nearly 11 million. This was the heyday of the coal industry before the depression of the 1930s. Cardiff was the boom town of late Victorian Britain. For a few years before the First World War, the tonnage of cargo handled at the port outstripped that of either London or Liverpool. Yet in the late 18th century, Cardiff's trade was all transported by two small sloops sailing to Bristol on alternative days. So what had led to this transformation? It was the growth of the iron industry in the South Wales Valleys that caused Cardiff to develop a port. In 1794, the Glamorganshire Canal was completed, linking Cardiff with Merthyr, and in 1798 a basin was built, connecting this canal to the sea. Cardiff's foremost landowner, the 2nd Marquess of Bute, built West Bute Dock in 1839. Two years later, the Taff Vale Railway was opened. Coal overtakes Iron From the 1850s, coal began to replace iron as the industrial foundation of south Wales. South Wales steam coal was what oil is today, with yearly exports reaching 2 million tonnes as early as 1862. A further dock, the East Bute, was opened in 1859, but following the death of the 2nd Marquess in 1848, the Bute Estate trustees were over-cautious and reluctant to invest in new dock facilities. Coal exports reach 9 million tonnes Frustration at the lack of development at Cardiff led to rival docks being opened at Penarth in 1865 and Barry in 1889. These developments eventually spurred Cardiff into action, with the opening of the Roath Dock in 1887, and the Queen Alexandra Dock in 1907. By then, coal exports from Cardiff totalled nearly 9 million tonnes per annum, much of it exported by locally-owned tramp steamers. Tramp steamers and steamships Cardiff's first steamship was the little Llandaff of 1865, and she was the first of a fleet of steamships that grew rapidly in the late 19th century. By 1910, there were some 250 tramp steamers owned at Cardiff. Each day, the owners would meet to arrange cargoes of coal for their ships in the opulent Coal Exchange in Mount Stuart Square. The coal export industry reached its peak in 1913, when 10.7 million tonnes of coal were exported from the port. First World War After the First World War, there was a significant increase in shipping in Cardiff, with 122 shipping companies in business in 1920. The boom proved short-lived, however; oil was growing in importance as a maritime fuel, and the terms of the Treaty of Versailles soon flooded Europe with cheap German coal. By 1932, in the depths of the depression, coal exports had fallen to below 5 million tonnes and dozens of locally owned ships were laid-up. It was an era of depression from which Cardiff never really recovered, and despite intense activity at the port during the Second World War, coal exports continued to decline, finally ceasing altogether in 1964. Modern day Cardiff Today, the port of Cardiff presents a very different picture from that existing a century ago. The waterfront has been totally transformed. Exclusive flats now stand where coal hoists once stood, and the rough and ready sailortown pubs have been replaced by sedate bistros. Only two docks, the Roath and the Queen Alexandra, remain in use, and just two shipping companies remain. There is still some trade in timber, oil, and containers, but the days when the port was packed with tramp steamers, shrouded in coal dust as they loaded the 'black diamonds' of the valleys of south Wales, will never be seen again. Background Reading Cardiff and the Marquesses of Bute, by John Davies. Published by University of Wales Press (1981). Cardiff Shipowners, by J. Geraint Jenkins and David Jenkins. Published by the National Museums & Galleries of Wales (1986). Coal Metropolis: Cardiff, 1970-1914, by Martin Daunton. Published by Leicester University Press (1977).
Rare Viking object rescued after 900 years underwater 17 April 2007 Diving operations on the Smalls Reef (1992) Detail of an animal in profile depicted on one side of the Smalls sword guard. Detail of beast on the top of the Smalls guard. The Smalls Sword, ca. AD 1100. The location of the Smalls Reef in South-west Wales Amgueddfa Cymru holds one of the most remarkable examples of late Viking art ever to be found in Wales. The discovery of the lower guard of a Viking sword, dated to about AD 1100, was made by a sports diver in August 1991. The findspot lies off The Smalls Reef - some 13 miles due west of Skomer island (Dyfed), the nearest landfall being the island of Grassholm, approximately 7 miles due east. This makes it one of the most remote archaeological sites in Wales. Cast in brass and finely decorated The sword guard is cast in brass, each side being finely decorated with a pair of stylised animals in profile, interwoven with thin, snake-like beasts. On the top of the guard two animals with open jaws bite the position of the grip which once projected through the guard, but has now perished. The main areas of ornament are inlaid with silver wire, and the background was originally filled with a black inlay called niello, to form a handsome design of gold, black and silver appearance. Urnes style decoration This decoration is in a style known as Urnes, which took its name from the decoration of a small wooden church built at Urnes in western Norway in about AD1060. The new find, with its elegant, refined animal profiles, reminds us that the Vikings were not only pirates and raiders, but also craftsmen and creators of art which, based on animal forms, were full of vigour and vitality. Its ornament is related to metalwork produced in Ireland from the second half of the 11th century, where it caught native imagination, as can be seen in the famous Cross of Cong (dated about 1123) and St Manchan's Shrine (12th century). Following the identification of the find, the site was designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973, which aims to prevent unauthorised interference on wreck sites considered to be of archaeological, historic or artistic importance. Such was the rarity of the discovery that the Museum was granted a licence to survey the site. The logistics of such an investigation were formidable, with large swells frequently rolling in from the Atlantic and smashing onto the exposed rocks. In spite of these difficulties, it was possible to inspect the area and make complete video and photographic records of the underwater environment of the reef, and the likely context of the find. The discovery of a prized possession in such a location is unlikely to represent a casual single loss, but rather the capsize and loss of a vessel, probably Viking, on one of the long-distance sea-routes at some point during the period of frequent attacks by the Dublin fleet on wealthy centres such as St. David's and Bristol. The ship was a dramatic symbol of Viking culture, and to judge from other Viking finds, the vessel carrying the sword may have measured between 13 and 28 metres in length - either a large, slender, fast ship for warfare, or a broader, sturdier vessel for the long-distance transport of people and cargoes. Many ships were lost on the Smalls before the advent of navigational aids such as radar and lighthouses, and any vessels wishing to travel to Ireland from the south coast of Wales still need to keep a course well to the south of the 'Hats and Barrels' to be sure of clearing the hazardous rocks, inbetween the islands of Skockholm, Skomer and Grassholm, themselves all being Scandinavian names. The rarity of this find, the quality of workmanship and the nature of the findspot are all factors which help shed light on the ancient operations of Norsemen around the Welsh coast.
