ON SATURDAY, May 28, the families of some of the Llandudno men killed in the French village of Wormhout laid wreaths at Llandudno War Memorial to commemorate their loss 82 years ago.

On May 28, 1940, as British troops were being evacuated from Dunkirk, eight men were killed by a German SS unit as they attempted to get to the coast.

The service was organised by the Llandudno branch of the Royal British Legion and the Home Front Museum.

Led by Reverend Beverley Ramsden, it was also attended by the mayor of Llandudno and cadets from the area.

Peter Kingston, chairman of Llandudno Royal British Legion, said: “The service was originally planned for the 80th anniversary in 2020 but has had to be postponed twice because of COVID-19 restrictions.

“It was wonderful to be able to go ahead with it this year and welcome families from as far away as the English south coast.

“It was especially poignant when they laid wreaths in memory of their loved ones.”

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Adrian Hughes of the Home Front Museum added: “The Territorials of the Llandudno battery, Royal Artillery were mobilised on September 1, 1939, two days before the outbreak of war.

“They were sent first to St Asaph and then Chipping Sodbury, where they trained until May 1940.

“On the May 7, 1940, they disembarked at Le Havre, moving through northern France to the Belgian border and were soon in action firing their howitzers at the advancing German army at the Battle of the River Escaut.

“On May 21, they suffered their first casualty when Bernard Kitchener Jones of the Great Orme was killed.

“Gunner Kitchener Jones was 25 years old, married with one son and was a well-known boatman in Llandudno.

“In the days following the death of Kitchener Jones, the Llandudno lads started to fall back.

“On the night of May 27, they set up camp on Mount Kemmel, a couple of miles south of Ypres and Passchendaele where many of their fathers had fought in the First World War.

“At first light on May 28, they were ordered to destroy their howitzers and retreat to the French coast at Dunkirk; they had been in France and Belgium for less than three weeks.

“The situation was chaotic; British, French and Belgian soldiers choked up the roads along with civilians fleeing the fighting.

“Amid this confusion, the convoy of Llandudno lads crossed the French border and drove towards the village of Wormhout, which was believed to be held by the British.

“This was not the case as earlier that day it had been captured by elite German SS troops.

“As the convoy drove into the centre of Wormhout, the lead vehicle, driven by Gunner Harold Bowen and containing Lance Bombardier John Coleman took a direct hit from a large calibre German round, both were killed.

“Harold Bowen of Adelphi Street was a cabinet maker by trade and was 37 years old.

“John Coleman was the son of Llandudno surgeon, Dr Amos Coleman of Clement Avenue. He was 19 years old and was due to start medical school in September 1939 but declined in order to stay with his ‘mates’ in the Royal Artillery.

“The months of training had not prepared them for this; they were artillerymen with an occasional rifle between them, having to pitch into battle against a unit of fanatical, well-drilled German troops.

“The senior non-commissioned officers hollered at the Llandudno men to leave the wagons and run for their lives as machine gun and rifle fire screamed around them.

“Men scattered in all directions, many got away but others were captured by the SS and murdered in cold blood in a barn on the outskirts of Wormhout.

“Even today it is unclear who died in the initial ambush and subsequent firefight and who were captured and murdered in the cowshed on the edge of the village.

“Gunner Ronald Ashley of Church Walks was 25 years old. He was employed at Llandudno railway station by London Midland Scottish Railways and had been married for two years.

“Gunner Vincent Kevin Barrie of Mowbray Road was 19 years old and a labourer. Four of his brothers also served in the military during the Second World War.

“Lance Serjeant Eric Beeton lived on Park Drive in Craig-y-Don. The 31-year-old was married.

“27-year-old Gunner Robert Edwards of James Street formerly attended Central School on Trinity Avenue. He was married and both his brother and sister served in the military during the war.

“Gunner George Morris of Knowles Road was 19 years old and had only joined the Army a few months earlier.

“He, too, was a former pupil of Central School and was employed by a Craig-y-Don grocer before the war.

“Bombardier Lally Thompson was 19 years of age. His father, Frank, was the licensee of the Snowdon Hotel on Tudno Street.

“Lally was a member of Llandudno Cricket Club and apprenticed to a Llandudno accountant.

“Eight men from Llandudno died at Wormhout on 28 May 1940; four were just 19 years of age.

“For those that made it to Dunkirk, the situation did not improve.

“For the next few days and nights, the men awaited rescue. They were hungry, tired and in constant danger from marauding Luftwaffe aircraft that strafed and bombed the beaches incessantly.

“There was one more Llandudno casualty while the artillerymen were waiting to be removed from the beaches.

“Gunner Arthur Cimatti of Clement Avenue died as he dug a slit trench in the sand.

“The Cimatti family lived on Clement Avenue next door to John Coleman.

“Arthur was a popular member of Llandudno Operatic Society and worked with his father in their shops.

“His brother, Tom, was in the same battery of the Royal Artillery and made it home from Dunkirk.”