FAMILY MARK CENTENARY OF TRAGIC STEELWORKER’S DEATH

A memorial service is being held in a Carmarthenshire town this summer to mark 100 years since the death of a local man more than 5,000 miles away in India.

David John Davies, known as DJ, had gone to work in the TATA steel plant in Golmuri to support his 10 orphaned brothers and sisters at home in Burry Port, near Llanelli.

Tragically, he died after only three months — in June 1923 — after suffering heat stroke. He was 35. He is buried in nearby Jamshedpur, with a headstone in both Welsh and English.

Many of the details of DJ’s story are preserved in the letters he sent home to his family, which were saved by a subsequent owner of their house and recently handed to a niece, who still lives locally.

On the 4th of June, descendants of his family will come to Burry Port from as far afield as the USA for a special service at Jerusalem Chapel in the town.

His great-great- niece, Lucy Foulston, from Boston, Massachusetts, who researched DJ’s life, said: “We are so pleased to be able to commemorate David John’s life, particularly as none of the family has been able to visit his grave in India. Without the sacrifices he made to support his brothers and sisters after their parents died some of us probably wouldn’t be here now.”

The family are very grateful to the minister, Reverend Christopher Owen, deacons and congregation of Jerusalem Chapel for their enthusiastic support for the memorial service.

Reverend Owen said, “David John Davies was a remarkable man who travelled so far from Burry Port. It is wonderful to see the Welsh language, his native tongue, engraved on his memorial stone, in a land so far away.”

Members of the public will be welcome to attend the service, which starts at 10.30 am on Sunday 4^th June.