A COMPREHENSIVE list of members of a Gwent community who died during the First World War has been put together by a family member of a man who died in the conflict aged just 19.

Steve Veysey, from Risca, became inspired to look into those who died who had a connection to the Risca area after finding out about his great-uncle John Arthur Veysey, who was killed in the conflict.

South Wales Argus:

(Steve Veysey, author of The Fallen of Risca Parish in WWI, at the grave of his great uncle John Arthur Veysey in Belgium)

Mr Veysey said none of his family had ever visited his great-uncle's grave in Belgium until he and his parents went to visit it in 2005.

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“I joined the War Grave Photographic Group and began to photograph graves of those who died around the Monmouthshire area," he said.

“As I got to the Risca area, I saw that there were no names on the cenotaph and only some were recognised in the church memorials.

“I wanted to know who they were and what their links were to Risca and began searching.”

Mr Veysey spent almost five years researching all the names, helped by friend Bernard Osment, who did research with the local archives, looking at all the old newspaper clippings.

And he has collated all this information into a book The Fallen of Risca Parish in WWI - which includes details of 256 fallen soldiers - with at least six more to be added in a future edition.

But, despite all this work, the book was never meant to be published.

Mr Veysey said: “I was originally just looking for the names to create a list, but Bernard convinced me to do a book as we had found a lot of information on a lot of people.

“At first, I was only going to do three copies, one for myself, one for my dad and one for Bernard.”

"There was a lot of local interest in a comprehensive collection of the war dead though. The Risca branch of the Royal British Legion regularly post on social media on the dates of the deaths and provide some information about the person who died. These posts get a lot of interaction and showed the local community wanted to know more.

“It's good to see the local interest and people have been contacting me with stories, medals and I have had more names come forward too that were missed the first time.

“Unfortunately, some of the records didn’t survive after the bombings during the Second World War.”

South Wales Argus:

(The Fallen of Risca Parish in WWI by Steve Veysey provides a comprehensive list of those who have died from the parish of Risca during the First World War)

Mr Veysey knows that the book will never be fully finished as more people come forward with ancestors who died in the war that were left out.

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He set a criteria for inclusion of having to the Risca parish, which goes from The Welsh Oak in Pontymister to Wattsville and Pontywaun. Those ties could include anything from being born in the area, moving to the area, or working in the area.

The deaths also must have been before 1921 as this is the Commonwealth War Graves cut off date.

The book has a sentimental feel for Mr Veysey, as it is dedicated to his great-uncle as well as another of his great-uncles who fought in the Second World War. It is also dedicated to his father, who died before the final published edition came out. On the cover, he has used the watch and notepad of his great-uncle from the war.

You can purchase The Fallen of Risca Parish in WWI from Howards the Butchers in Risca, Risca Library or from Tango Creations and Lulu Publishing or via risca_ww1@btinternet.com