Some of the Valiant Veterans of Brecon

Jonathan Morgan has written in the past about the Welsh military tradition (see his 2016 book 'The Welsh Warrior Through the Ages' and also 'The Tragedy of War - Essays on the Welsh War Poets, Writers and Artists, but in this book he focuses on his own home town, Brecon, and its long history of association with military events and personalities. Brecon is famously a garrison town with a long and close connection with not only Welsh regiments but also more exotic fighting men such as the Gurkhas from Nepal. In this new series of essays, he tells the story of his remarkable father Padre Rex Morgan, who as an army chaplain narrowly escaped death in the battle for Calais during the Dunkirk evacuation. After being captured he was transported to a number of different Prisoner of War camps ending up in Poland where, in 1945, as the Russian armies advanced, he and his comrades were forced to take part in a notorious death march in bitter winder conditions. Many died while marching West and Padre Morgan became noted for his heroic efforts to encourage the survivors. After the war he became Chaplain to Christ College, Brecon. Jonathan writes, too, of many of the other military and naval figures who give such a martial flavour to Brecon's history.