3rd Battalion of the Monmouthshire Battalion
Site of Plaque
This plaque is placed in the grounds of Bedwellty House and Park. It was put into position with a dedication ceremony to honour the locally recruited men of the 3rd Mons’ Battalion who gave their lives during the 1914-18 ‘Great War’.
Reason for plaque
the regiment was made up of men largely from what is now Blaenau Gwent Borough with the exception of Brynmawr, then in Breconshire. Called to active service in 1914 when WW1 broke out, the regiment was posted to France early the following year, where its Third Battalion held Frezenburg Ridge on the Ypres Salient. In April 1915 the 2nd Battle of Ypres commenced with a German attempt to seize that town. The 3rd Mons began the battle with 1020 men, but only 134 survived unscathed.
In 1916, brought back up to strength, the battalion was despatched to the Somme sector where it served both as infantry and tunnellers in preparation for the planned ‘Big Push’. The Battle of the Somme began on 1st July 1916, when the British Army suffered 60,000 first-day casualties, of whom nearly 20,000 were killed. By August heavy 3rd Mons losses and lack of replacements caused its disbandment, with survivors posted to other Welsh units.
