Man visiting war grave of every hometown soldier

A man is visiting the grave of every soldier from a Welsh town who died in war.

Adrian Hughes, a historian from Llandudno, Conwy county, has paid his respects at 284 graves, but has 46 left to go.

Llandudno has 330 names on its war memorial, with Mr Hughes travelling around the UK as well as to France, Belgium, Israel and Greece.

At each one he lays a small cross or wreath, says a few words and observes a few moments of silence.

Mr Hughes said the idea came about 25 years ago when he was at a Remembrance Sunday commemoration and got talking to an RAF veteran who knew many of the Llandudno men who had been killed in war.

"He'd point out names on the war memorial and say 'this person was a good cricketer and that person loved playing football'.

"Suddenly these people weren't just names anymore, they were sons, fathers and husbands, so I started to find out more about them and that included visiting some of their graves."

He started it started out simply, with 36 of the 330 men listed on the town's war memorial buried in Llandudno and a similar number are buried elsewhere in the UK.

But it "snowballed" and he then visited another 120 in France, followed by Belgium, Italy and Norway.

Mr Hughes' research into soldiers who died during World War Two is on display at the Home Front Museum in Llandudno, where he is the curator.

Where possible, he makes contact with families of the men who died, asking if they would like to lay a wreath, which he does on their behalf.

He also makes a short video of the place where their relative is buried.

Mr Hughes has already travelled to Israel and Greece and plans to visit Serbia later in the year, following by a trip to the far east, taking in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Indonesia.

"When I was out in Israel, in the city of Beersheba, I visited the grave of a Llandudno lad called Thomas Ivor Jones and the headstone had his address in the town.

"It's strange to be standing there and realise that this corner of a far-off country is forever a part of Llandudno."

He said it had been lovely to speak with the families of the fallen who had not had a chance to visit.

"It's very poignant to think that I am possibly the first person from Llandudno to visit them since they died."

Mr Hughes said he still needs to visit the graves of soldiers in Australia and Canada, but there are others that he admitted would be difficult to get to.

Nine soldiers are buried in Libya and Iraq, so visiting them may not happen just yet.