CQMS Henry Daniel "Taffy" Bevan MID
British Army 1st Btn Welch Regiment
from:Clydach Vale
My grandfather Henry Daniel Bevan joined the Welch Regiment aged 17 as his date of birth is incorrect on his enlistment papers. He joined the 1st Battalion Welch but was transferred to 2nd Battalion in India and served 7 years (1931-38) before returning to UK as a civilian.
He married in August 1939 and was recalled when WW2 started serving in Palestine and Egypt with 1st Battalion Welch at Mersa Matruh and Alexandria. He survived the German invasion of Crete and was fortunate to be evacuated back to Alexandria, Egypt where he then joined the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG). He was Colour Quartermaster Sergeant (CQMS) at Siwa, Kufra and Jalo oasis with the LRDG before being captured in the Dodecanese Islands.
Henry was Mentioned in Despatches in the London Gazette on 24th June 1943 for gallant and distinguished service between 1st May and 22nd October 1942
Transferred to Greece as a POW, he managed to escape with 2 other men from a German train transporting them to a camp and he spent 7 months in Yugoslavia working with the partisans. The US 15th Airforce repatriated him to Bari, Italy in July 1944 then he returned home to Clydach Vale in Wales. My mother Valerie then aged 5 met her father for the first time.
He was then posted to Welch Regt HQ in Brecon in a training/drafting role and later to Ballyedmond, Northern Ireland with the 14th Battalion Welch Regt. He died in 2013.
