Remembrance Sunday in Brecon and throughout the UK honours and remembers the heroic efforts, achievements and sacrifices that were made by members of the local community in past wars. A similar Act of Remembrance takes place each Armistice Day, 11th November, in Brecon's Twin Town Gouesnou, Brittany, France. There, those from that community, who died fighting for their country, are solemnly remembered together with five British Airmen who are buried in the Gouesnou churchyard.
Gouesnou is a small town located near the Naval port of Brest on the Atlantic coast of France. During the 2nd World War the town was a garrison town occupied by the German military with the port of Brest being used as one of the Atlantic U Boat bases and the nearby airport at Guipavas as a military and supply airfield for the German Forces. It is understandable, therefore that the area attracted the attention of the RAF with considerable action taking place in the air over, Brest, Guipavas and Gouesnou. On 24th June 1943 a Mitchell 11 medium range bomber suffered a direct hit during an attempt to bomb Guipavas airport. The wreckage of the plane crashed into a field near Gouesnou and the bodies of the four man crew were recovered by the German military. The bodies were placed in coffins and stacked in a corner of the field. There they remained for six weeks until another allied airman, Pilot Officer R.L. Thompson was killed in the same area after his Typhoon crashed following a dog fight with a German FW 190. It was then that the occupying authorities decided to bury the five in Gouesnou Churchyard.
Following the end of hostilities ceremonies were held annually at the Churchyard to remember the fallen and the British airmen have never been left out or forgotten. Local Gouesnou historian Daniel Crouan explained: "We owe a debt of gratitude to these brave young men and the best thing we can do to pay it back is to keep their memory alive. Just imagine these five men have been members of our community for over 73 years now, probably longer than most inhabitants of Gouesnou today.
"I feel I have a personal link with those men as I was born on 28th October 1943 and my mother was five weeks pregnant when they lost their lives. As a young man I felt we ought to find out more about them and to make contact with their families to let them know how much their sacrifice has meant to the people of Gouesnou and to keep them in the knowledge that although they never returned home their memory lives on.
"In order to achieve this goal I have researched their history and in all but one case, I have made and maintain, contact with the families. The Flying Officer of the Mitchell FL 216 was Joseph Toeg an Oxford graduate of Jewish Heritage who was born in Shanghai. He became a British citizen and joined the RAF in 1940. His brother Victor, was presented with the medal of Gouesnou as a token of thanks and gratitude by the town in 2009. On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the two crashes," Daniel said, "I insisted on finding a member of the Jewish community in Brest to come and say the appropriate prayers at Mr Toeg's grave. It was an extremely moving occasion and probably the first time any prayer in Hebrew had been said and heard in our churchyard.
"The observer on that flight was Sergeant Reed, who was drafted in at the last moment because the regular crewman was ill. Born in BishopÕs Stortford in Hertfordshire he was a printer by trade. His son Leslie, was born nine months after the ill-fated mission. He too has received the Medal of Gouesnou in recognition of his father's sacrifice.
"Sergeant Glover was the air gunner. He was a member of a large Yorkshire mining family. Before joining the RAF in 1941 he worked at the pit head. His nieces have visited the grave and send poppy crosses on every Remembrance Day. They too have received the Gouesnou medal.
"That brings us to the last airman, Tom Ellis. Although we know a lot about him we have never been able to make contact with any of his family," explained Daniel. Tom was born in 1909, the son of Tom and Susan Ellis in Harphurey, Manchester and he had one sister, Martha. She married Edward Humber in 1928 and the couple had three daughters, Tom's nieces. Edna married John Granger in 1950, Joan married Arthur Inman in 1949 and Muriel married in either 1951 or 1953. All the marriages took place in Preston or Barton, Lancashire and it is the children of these nieces that Daniel and the villagers of Gouesnou would like to contact.
Speaking on behalf of the whole Breton community, Daniel said: "I really hope we can find some of Tom's relatives, to fill in the blanks even after all this time. It is important that these brave young men are remembered, not just as heroes, but also as ordinary sons, brothers, uncles and fathers."
Anyone who thinks they can help or anyone wants more information about the Brecon Gouesnou Twinning Association should contact Ron Rowsell 01874 624548 or Margaret Edwards 01874 622812 prior to the arrival of a group of Gouesnou representatives who will join the community of Brecon for the Remembrance Day Parade and Wreath laying ceremony on Sunday 14th Nov and will meet school groups during the following week.