Troedrhiwfuwch Memories
J ROACH
J ROACH
According to the War Memorial J Roach was a Signalman in the Royal Navy during WWI.
Unfortunately, we are unable to find a J ROACH on Commonwealth War Grave Commission (CWGC) with these details.
There are a few theories to who this man could be.
JAMES ROACH
Service Number: 2943T
H.M.S. "Goliath."
Royal Naval Reserve who died on 13 May 1915 Age 26
Son of James and Charlotte Annie Roach. Born at Bolton, Lancs.
Remembered with Honour PLYMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL.
James was killed in action when his ship was torpedoed near Dardanelles.
It is possible that James moved to the village before the war. It is common to find addresses on military records are that of their next of kin/dependant. This means that single men who enlisted for war would have, in most cases, their parents address on their military cards and not the address they lived/lodged at.
There is also a J Roach/Roche who lived in New Tredegar and is commemorated on New Tredegar War Memorial.
LANCE CORPORAL J ROCHE
Service Number: 4845
Regiment & Unit/Ship
Royal Irish Rifles
7th Bn.
Date of Death
Died 29 October 1916
Commemorated at
KEMMEL CHATEAU MILITARY CEMETERY
H. 2.
Belgium
©Anthony McLoughlin
John Roach of New Tredegar and Edmund White of Troedrhiwfuwch shared a deep and lasting friendship forged in the valleys of South Wales. The two young men were inseparable and are believed to have enlisted together in Bargoed at the outset of the Great War. Their sequential service numbers—John’s 4845 and Edmund’s 4846—are a quiet testament to the bond they shared, entering the ranks of the Monmouthshire Regiment side by side.
This friendship left a lasting impression on those they left behind. Edmund’s parents kept a treasured photograph of John Roach in the family album, placed lovingly beside the picture of their own son. It spoke volumes of the closeness between the two young men, as did the possession of John’s 1914–1918 Silver War Badge—held in trust and remembrance by Edmund’s family after the war.
Though official records may mark them separately, in the hearts of those who remembered them, John and Edmund’s stories are forever intertwined—brothers not by blood, but by choice, sacrifice, and devotion.
🕊️ “Brothers by choice, heroes by fate.”