Bodelwyddan (St, Margaret) Churchyard

The earliest war graves in St Margaret’s date from the summer of 1916, and are mostly of men who served with one of several local Welsh regiments, or with the training reserve. The majority, however, served with the Canadian forces and date from the winter of 1918-1919.  

In 1915, a military training camp was built nearby, south of the village of Bodelwyddan, to train troops for combat during the First World War. The camp, known as Kinmel Camp or Kinmel Park, was at its time of construction, the largest army camp in Wales.

A platoon of Royal Welch Fusiliers at Kinmel Park Camp, Bodelwyddan, 1916 

At the end of the First World War, thousands of Canadian units (many returning from the Western Front) were housed at Kinmel Park while awaiting their passage home. On average, Canadian soldiers spent around a month in Britain before being repatriated. However, with hundreds of thousands of returning soldiers there were delays, difficulties and shortages. Conditions in camp over the winter were less than ideal, overcrowding and shortages of coal, food, blankets, soap and delays in pay caused discontent. Many of these Canadian reserve units had arrived at Kinmel Park in the autumn of 1918 as the world was being ravaged by the influenza pandemic, sometimes known as ‘Spanish Flu’, and lost their lives here while waiting to be sent home.

Although the longest-serving men and those with dependents were normally returned home first, logistical difficulties and administrative problems sometimes made this impossible. Discontent among waiting soldiers boiled over on several occasions and there were several disturbances in Canadian camps across Britain. The worst was at Kinmel, where a riot involving more than 800 men took place on 4 and 5 March 1919, after a ship assigned to transport troops home was diverted elsewhere. Five Canadian soldiers died in the violence and were buried at Bodelwyddan (St Margaret) Churchyard, although one was later reburied in Canada.

Canadian soldiers walk the streets of Kinmel, inspecting damage following the riots of March 1919 © CWM George Metcalf Archival Collection 20020051-007

Among the Canadians buried here are many born in the United Kingdom, or those who had parents living there, but also several who were born in the United States. Buried alongside the servicemen are two service women; a Canadian nurse and a member of Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps, a women’s unit which provided logistical and clerical support for the army. A memorial of red sandstone stands in the churchyard, erected by Canadian soldiers, in honour of their comrades who died in the Kinmel riots.