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I have recently been sent an image of the World War One memorial to the war dead who had previously worked for the British Mannesmann Company, based in Landore, Swansea (with thanks to Bernard Lewis and Pam McKay). The works is long gone and so also, presumably, is this memorial. However, the family of Hubert McKay have kept this cutting from the South Wales Daily Post, probably from 1922 or 1923, which records the unveiling of the memorial. If you look at the image you will see where the family have put an ‘X’ next to Hubert’s name.
The number of men who were killed in action, 58, is breath-taking – or rather, heart-breaking. There were 1,600 men employed by the company in 1914, so in bald figures over one in 27 of them died as a result of the war.
Looking beyond the figures it does appear that there is more to this story. The Swansea newspapers, which accepted the line in 1914 that this was a just war, were enthusiastic about publicising which companies were doing the most to get their workers to volunteer. They published lists showing how many men had enlisted from different companies, and the ‘winner’ in this competition, by a large margin, was the British Mannesmann Tube Company. The list published by the Cambria Daily Leader on 14 September 1914 has 210 names of those from the company who were ‘doing their duty’. Many of these names – including Hubert McKay – are on the list of those who died.
So why were the men of the company so keen to volunteer? Does it have anything to do with the fact that the parent company was German? There is a report in a newspaper at the start of the war noting that the two sons of Mr Roeder, manager of the works, were going back to Germany to fight for their country. Given all the pressure for companies to show their loyalty to King and Country, did that then mean that the Mannesmann works was particularly eager to supply as many volunteers as possible for the Colours?
The McKay family have kept a cutting from the South Wales Daily Post of 18 October 1917 recording the death of Hubert, killed in action in Belgium on 9 October. His officer wrote that he ‘died for the cause of all and the glory of the regiment.’ He has no known grave, being commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial.
Information on many of the other men can be found in the pages of the Swansea newspapers (which are available online). John M. Price was killed on New Year’s Day 1915 at Festubert. William Doel died in the vicinity of Loos on 11 May 1916; his brother Sydney died in the Somme campaign on 28 September 1916. Oswald Murphy was killed on 27 December 1916. Fredrick Woolard (named in the paper as Fred Wallard) was on the Laurentic when she was sunk after striking two mines on 25 January 1917.
There are also a number of men who are reported as former Mannesmann employees whose names do not appear on this memorial. James Keefe, a veteran who had served in the Boer War, rejoined the army as an instructor, but died of an illness in November 1915. Richard William Thomas was 19 years old when he was killed in a Flanders field in October 1917. Thomas Ivor Jones was 20 years old when he died on the Western Front in September 1918.
Most of the 58 men listed here are commemorated on the Swansea Cenotaph, where 2,274 dead of the First World War are named. The image above shows the name of William Henry Phelps, who was killed in the attack on Mametz Wood on 10 July 1916, while serving with the 14th Btn Welsh Regt (the ‘Swansea Pals’). He is also commemorated in the memorial to the WW1 dead from Carmarthen Road Congregational chapel, Swansea.
Oswald Murphy’s name appears among the 120 names on the WW1 memorial outside the Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of St Joseph.
One who is commemorated on another chapel memorial is
David James Jones, 
named on the Roll of Honour at Caersalem Newydd, Treboeth. He was killed when HMS Genista was sunk by a U-boat in October 1916. The newspaper says of him that he ‘was a lad who promised to have a successful career. He was a boy who was exceptionally popular and his tragic death will be mourned by a large circle.’ To get an idea of the effect of the war on the workers at the Mannesmann company, we can multiply that sentiment by 58 and more.
[:cy]Yn ddiweddar derbyniais gopi o gofeb y sawl a weithiodd cyn 1914-18 i gwmni British Mannesmann yn Glandŵr, Abertawe (gyda diolch i Bernard Lewis a Pam McKay). Mae’r gwaith wedi hen fynd, ynghyd â’r gofeb, mae’n debyg. Fodd bynnag, cadwodd deulu Hubert McKay doriad o’r South Wales Daily Post o 1922 neu 1923 sy’n adrodd am ddadorchuddio’r gofeb. Gwelir bod y teulu wedi rhoi ‘X’ wrth ochr enw Hubert.
Mae gweld fod 58 wedi eu lladd yn y Rhyfel yn syndod – a mwy na hynny, mae’n hynod o drist. Roedd 1,600 o wŷr yn gweithio yn y cwmni yn 1914, ac felly bu farw un o bob 27 fel canlyniad i’r Rhyfel.
Wrth edrych y tu hwnt i’r rhifau, mae’n amlwg fod mwy i’r stori na hynny. Roedd papurau newydd Abertawe, a gredai ar y pryd fod y Rhyfel yn gyfiawn, yn frwdfrydig i roi cyhoeddusrwydd i’r cwmnïau a wnâi fwyaf i annog eu gweithwyr i wirfoddoli i ymuno â’r fyddin. Cyhoeddent rhestrau yn dangos faint o ddynion a ymunodd o’r gwahanol weithfeydd, ac enillydd y ‘gystadleuaeth’ hon oedd Cwmni British Mannesmann. Ar restr y Cambrian Daily Leader ar 14 Medi 1914 ceir enwau 210 o weithwyr y cwmni oedd yn ‘gwneud eu dyletswydd’. Mae llawer o’r enwau hyn – yn cynnwys Hubert McKay – ar rhestr y sawl a fu farw.
Felly pam oedd dynion y cwmni hwn mor awyddus i wirfoddoli? A oes ganddo unrhyw beth i wneud â’r ffaith fod prif weithle’r cwmni yn yr Almaen? Mae adroddiad mewn papur newydd ar ddechrau’r Rhyfel yn dweud fod dau fab Mr Roeder, rheolwr y gweithle, yn dychwelyd i’r Almaen i ymladd dros eu gwlad. Gan dderbyn fod pwysau ar y cwmnïau i ddangos eu ffyddlondeb i’r Brenin ac i’r Wlad, a olygai hynny fod gweithle Mannesmann yn eiddgar i weld cymaint ag y gellid o wirfoddolwyr yn ymuno â’r fyddin?
Cadwodd y teulu McKay y toriad o’r South Wales Daily Post 18 Hydref 1917 oedd yn cofnodi marwolaeth Hubert, a laddwyd ar 9 Hydref yng Ngwlad Belg. Ysgrifennodd swyddog iddo farw ‘dros yr achos ac er clod i’w gatrawd’. Ni wyddys pa le y mae ei fedd, ond ceir ei enw ar Gofeb Tyne Cot.
Ceir gwybodaeth am lawer o’r dynion eraill ar dudalennau papurau newydd Abertawe (sydd ar gael ar y we). Lladdwyd John M. Price ar Ddydd Calan 1915 yn Festubert. Bu farw William Doel gerllaw Loos ar 11 Mai 1916, a’i frawd Sydney yn ymgyrch y Somme ar 28 Medi 1916. Lladdwyd Oswald Murphy ar 27 Rhagfyr 1916. Roedd Frederick Woolard (a elwir Fred Wallard yn y papur) ar y llong Laurentic pan suddwyd hi ar ôl taro dau mine ar 25 Ionawr 1917.
Y mae hefyd nifer o ddynion a weithiai ar un adeg i Mannesmann na welir eu henwau ar y gofeb hon. Gwasanaethodd James Keefe yn Rhyfel y Boer, gan ymuno â’r fyddin eto fel hyfforddwr, ond bu farw o ryw aflwydd yn mis Tachwedd 1915. Pedair ar bymtheg oedd Richard William Thomas pan laddwyd ef yn Fflandrys yn Hydref 1917. Ugain oed oedd Thomas Ivor Jones pan fu farw ar Ffrynt y Gorllewin ym Medi 1918.
Coffeir y mwyafrif o’r gŵyr a enwir yma ar Cenotaph Abertawe, lle enwir 2,274 a laddwyd yn y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf. Mae’r darlun a welir uchod yn dangos enw William Henry Phelps, a lladdwyd yn y cyrch ar Mametz Wood ar 10 Gorffennaf 1916, tra’n gwasanaethu gyda 14eg Bataliwn y Gatrawd Gymreig (y ‘Swansea Pals’). Caiff ei goffáu hefyd ar gofres capel yr Annibynwyr yn Carmarthen Road, Abertawe.
Ceir enw Oswald Murphy ymysg y 120 o enwau sydd ar gofeb Eglwys Gadeiriol (Babyddol) St Joseph.
Un a goffeir mewn capel arall yw David James Jones a enwir ar gofeb Caersalem Newydd, Treboeth. Fe’i lladdwyd pan suddwyd H.M.S. Genista gan long tanfor yn Hydref 1916. Dywed y papur newydd ei fod ‘yn llanc addawol iawn y disgwylid iddo gael gyrfa lwyddiannus. Roedd yn hynod boblogaidd a bydd cylch eang yn galaru ar ei ôl.’ I gael rhyw syniad o effaith y rhyfel ar weithwyr cwmni Mannesmann gellir cynyddu’r teimlad hwnnw am un person 58 gwaith, a mwy.
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