A Second World War Flight Sergeant from Senghenydd whose name didn’t appear on the town’s war memorial plaque has been honoured at a rededication service held on Sunday May 8.
Flt Sgt Ronald Levis was killed in January 1942, but for unknown reasons his name was never included on the memorial in Senghenydd.
The omission was realised after fellow RAF veteran and Senghenydd resident Penri Evans mentioned it in passing to Aber Valley Heritage Group secretary, Gill Jones.
Mr Evans, 95, who went to school with Ronald Levis, said: “I enquired about Ron when I got back from the war in 1946, but no one could ever explain why his name wasn’t added to the memorial.
“It’s by luck that a few months ago I told Gill, who took an interest, and now his name is rightly up there with the others. It was a wonderful service.”
Aber Valley Heritage Group arranged with Caerphilly County Borough Council for the memorial to be refurbished with Ronald’s name included.
Gill Jones, Secretary of Aber Valley Heritage Group, said: “After I doubled checked that Ron’s name definitely wasn’t on the plaque, I checked with the council’s bereavement section.
“I submitted some military documents and archived RAF reports to the council and they approved the refurbishment. Within a week, things were in motion.”
The documents, acquired from the Ministry of Defence’s Air Historial Branch, shed some light on Flt Sgt Levis’s death.
Ronald was serving as a mechanic in No.210 Squadron in the RAF out of Oban, Scotland.
On January 11, 1942, the Consolidated Catalina flying boat he was in began to bounce off the waves as it tried to take-off from the water, and the plane flipped, crashing into the water. Three members of the nine-strong crew were killed on impact, but Ronald was taken to hospital, where he later died of his injuries.
After his body was returned home, he was buried in Penyrheol cemetery in Caerphilly.
The service, which coincided with the anniversary of VE Day, included performances by the RAF St Athan brass band and Aber Valley Male Voice Choir.
Also in attendance were relatives of both Ronald Levis and his sweetheart, Mair Roberts, who was said to have been heartbroken at his death.
Although she remarried and moved to the Midlands to work after the war, Miss Roberts still regularly spoke of Ronald to her family until she died recently.
The marble face of the memorial dedicated to the Second World War has been completely reground, with each of the names newly inscribed to a smaller scale in order to fit the name of Flight Sergeant Ronald Levis to its rightful place.
Well done auntie Gill.