We are delighted to announce that we have been contacted by Mr John Abraham, nephew of Thomas Collins. John read of our appeal in the South Wales Evening Post and got in touch a few days later. Naturally, we were delighted and following a number of phone calls we travelled to Swansea on Friday 12 March to meet.
BBC Wales were in tow as we visited the Swansea Cenotaph to view Thomas Collins’ name on the memorial, Thomas’ old address that he enlisted from (50 Shelley Crescent – now High View) and then Colbourne Terrace where his family moved to post-war (Thomas’ youngest brother William lived at No.58 until his death in the 1990s). We then capped a moving day by visiting John at his house where we were welcomed in and shown the most amazing 3ft x 2ft framed picture of Thomas Collins in khaki with what looks like cards that he sent home from France stuck around the outside of the frame. This had sat in his mother’s parlour (along with a framed photo of his brother Daniel – sadly also killed in the Great War whilst serving with the RNVR) for the rest of her lifetime. These remarkable pictures were clearly treasured possessions and a real tribute to her two eldest boys lost in the war. Mr Abraham has also indicated that he would be delighted to attend the memorial unveiling on 19 June along with other members of his family.
The BBC covered the story in a number of formats. A four minute feature went out this morning on the breakfast radio show ‘Good Morning Wales’.
There was also a feature on ‘Wales Today’ at 6.30pm, the BBC’s national news programme for Wales. The BBC also covered this on their website today.
Please find below pictures of our visit to Swansea and meeting with John Abraham.
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