From the Cardiff Times 140 years ago today…..
Inter-racial tension
Tag: Dynevor Street
Contrasting Fortunes of War
Today marks the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Denmark Strait, one of the most infamous naval battles of the Second World War.
On 18 May, the new German battleship Bismarck, at the time the most powerful battleship in the world, embarked on her maiden voyage, accompanied by the heavy-cruiser Prinz Eugen. Their mission was to attack the convoys bringing much-needed supplies to Britain from America.
In response, the Admiralty deployed as much of the British Fleet as possible to intercept the Bismarck. On the evening of 23 May, the British heavy-cruisers HMS Norfolk and HMS Suffolk spotted the German ships passing through the Denmark Strait – the passage between Iceland and Greenland. The two cruisers, being totally out-gunned by the German ships did not engage then enemy, but reported their position to the Admiralty to enable them to send in bigger ships, able to engage the enemy with heavier fire-power. The cruisers continued to track the ships using radar throughout the night.
The nearest British ships capable of tackling the Germans were the brand-new battleship HMS Prince of Wales, and the Home Fleet flagship, and pride of the British Fleet – HMS Hood. Despite its immense size and reputation, and armed with eight 15-inch guns (the same as the Bismarck), the Hood was an old ship, having been launched in 1918. Furthermore, the Hood had been designed as a battlecruiser – a ship with the fire-power of a battleship, but with the speed of a cruiser. The extra speed was attained by sacrificing the strong armour of a traditional battleship, especially on the deck. This left the Hood very vulnerable to plunging fire.
At approximately 05.35 on the morning of 24 May, a lookout aboard the Prince of Wales spotted the German ships. The British ships turned towards the enemy to engage in battle, and at 05.50, Admiral Lancelot Holland, commander of the British taskforce, aboard HMS Hood, ordered the British ships to open fire when in range, and two minutes later, HMS Hood fired the first salvoes of the battle.
Within 8 minutes however, the unthinkable happened. A shell from the Bismarck struck the weak deck of the Hood and plunged through the ship, exploding in the armament magazine. The whole ship erupted in a fireball, broke in two, and sank immediately. From a crew of 1,418, there were three survivors.
The loss of the Hood, would send shockwaves around the world.
In the meantime, the Prince of Wales was being pounded by enemy fire, and unable to continue the battle alone, retreated. The admiralty, devastated by the loss of the Hood, made the immediate decision that the main priority was now to destroy the Bismarck at all costs.
After a thrilling chase across the Atlantic (the details of which are too complex to go into on this blog), on the morning of 27 May, the Bismarck, which had by this time been crippled by a torpedo from a Swordfish plane from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, was finally cornered by ships of the British fleet. The battleships HMS Rodney and HMS King George V devastated the Bismarck with gunfire, and the heavy-cruiser HMS Dorsetshire finished off the stricken ship with torpedoes. Of Bismarck’s 2,131 crew, there were 115 survivors.
Now we get to the Merthyr connection. Below are two cuttings taken from the Merthyr Express dated 21 June 1941 highlighting the two sides of the battle.
To read more about the Battle of the Denmark Strait, please visit http://www.hmshood.com/history/denmarkstrait/index.htm
Tom Thomas – the First Welterweight Champion of Wales – part 1
by Roy Smith
Thomas James Thomas, known as Tom, was born in 1901 when his parents James Lloyd Thomas and Mabel (née Davies) lived in Dynevor Street, Merthyr Tydfil. They were residing at 7 Park Street, Merthyr by the time of the 1911 census and the family had grown with two additions, namely, son William (known as Billy) age 5 years and 2-year-old daughter Emily. Shortly after the family moved to the village of Deri, in the Darran Valley where James was employed as overman at Groesfaen Colliery.
Tom Thomas first laced on the gloves as a member of the Bargoed Boxing Club and he began building his reputation in that rough but wonderfully efficient school the travelling boxing booth. He toured South Wales and North of England with Bert Hughes’ boxing booth (June 1923-June 1924). “Those were the days. Thirty bob a week and all found, and fighting all day and all night, as long as opponents came forward,” as written by Tom Thomas in a letter to Boxing News.
Rhymney Valley Man In the Limelight – A Clever Deri Lad Making a Name is how the South Wales Echo headlined its report on 8 Sept 1923.“Tom Thomas (Deri) is making a name for himself, notably in England. This is really an extraordinary achievement for a young man of 21 years of age. A feature of his record is the large number of “K.O.’s. Since 1921, his victories include:- won on points over 15 rounds against Pat McAllister (Belfast). Knock-out Dai Morgan (Bargoed) in the fourth round; knock-out Wyndham Whale (Treharris) in the first round; knock-out Con Cushion (Rhymney) in the third round; knock-out Young Keepins, Cardiff, in the first round; knock-out Crad Jones (Treharris) in the first round. Draw with Billy Edmunds (Cardiff) over 10 rounds; knock-out Battling Bartlett (Dowlais) in the fourth round; knock-out Billy Wagstaff (Treharris) in the sixth round; won on points from Harvey Blanch (Hereford) in a 15 rounds contest; won on points from Will Dixon (Porth) in a 15 round contest; knock-out Digger Burns (Burnley) in the second round; knock-out Harry Jones (Hanley) in the third round; knock-out Griff Grifiths (Treharris) in the fifth round; and won on points from Bobby Parker, of Nuneaton, in a ten-round contest. According to South Wales Echo 3 September 1923, by knocking out Harry Jones (Wrexham) in the third round, he had established a record of 23 consecutive victories. On 13 November 1923 at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester he won a 15 round contest over Lawrence Ward (Belfast).
Tom Thomas, booked to face Chris Gorman (Chelsea) on 18 February 1924 at the National Sporting Club (NSC) Covent Garden, went into strict training at Anchorage Farm, Fleet, Hants under instructorship of Bert Hughes. On fight night, Thomas quickly ended his 10 rounds contest with Gorman and won a sensational victory knocking out his opponent in the first round with a right hook. His decisive victory more than pleased his many admirers in the Rhymney Valley. According to the Echo, 5 March in the course of a letter to Mr. Ted E. Lewis (Pontypridd) “Mr. Bettison, manager of the NSC expresses a very high opinion of the fighting qualities of Tom Thomas of Deri. He states that he considers Thomas to be one of the best welter-weights seen at the NSC for many years and that it would take a very good man to beat him.”
Thomas was matched with George Carney the Bermondsey welter-weight over 15 rounds in the chief contest at The Ring, Blackfriars Road, on March 20. The Echo, 21 March 1924 carried the following report “Although extremely plucky and forcing the fighting with great spirit throughout, Tom Thomas (Deri) proved no match for Carney. After being floored on three occasions in the seventh, the Welshman’s seconds did the proper thing in throwing in the towel. Thomas was loudly applauded on leaving the ring.”
Tommy Milligan (left) of Hamilton, Scotland, proved far too good for Tom Thomas in a ten-round contest at NSC Covent Garden on 17 April. This bout was the eliminating contest for the Championship of Great Britain. Tom, from Deri, was K.O.’d in 4½ minutes of actual fighting, but apparently this was a thriller while it lasted and the Boxing News (8 Sept 1967) report read as follows “This was short-lived, though there was more real hard fighting crammed into the two rounds than one will often see in a 20-rounds contest. Right from the gong, they went at it, slamming and pounding away with the utmost vigour. Thomas wanted to score a knock-out and was aiming mainly for the head, but Milligan, forcing his way in close, smashed furiously at the body, and obviously with the greater force. Neither man worried much about defence, all their energies being concentrated on attack, and one felt sure that the affair could not last long at this gait. Milligan appeared to be shaken by a right to the jaw, but came on more furiously than before, and with a succession of body blows, sent Thomas on his back to the boards. It looked all over, but Thomas rose at ‘eight’ and the slamming continued until another drive to the mark sent the Deri man once more to the boards. Up again at ‘eight’ he fought on to the gong, though ‘dropped’ twice more for ‘three’ each time. In the second round Milligan came from his corner with a rush, met Thomas near his own corner, drove a left to the mouth, crossed heavily with his right to the jaw, and driving the Welshman to the ropes simply pelted him with blows until Thomas, overwhelmed, went through the ropes and out of the ring to be counted out.” Milligan went on to become the British and British Empire Welterweight Champion 1924-25; European Middleweight Champion 1925; and British and British Empire Middleweight Champion 1926-28.
According to the South Wales Echo 9 April 1924, “Many boxing critics felt that great indiscretion had been displayed in fixing young Thomas with first-class opponents before giving him sufficient trials with lesser fights. To fix up a young boxer like Thomas at such an early stage of his career against the very best in the country was considered unfair to him, and defeats in such circumstances may tend to discourage him.”
To be continued…..
Sunday School Demonstration
From the Merthyr Express 110 years ago today…
