Ffeil / File AGA/1 - Letters to John Pikoulis from military colleagues of Alun Lewis and from military organisations

Politician and historian Alun Arthur Gwynne Jones, Lord Chalfont, was born in Monmouthshire. He joined the South Wales Borderers at the outbreak of World War II, serving alongside Alun Lewis, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1940. On 11 November 1964, he was created Baron Chalfont of Llantarnam (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alun_Gwynne_Jones,_Baron_Chalfont).

Bert Harden met Alun Lewis at Longmoor military camp in Hampshire following both men's enlistment in 1940. Harden was assigned to the Royal Engineers and rose to the rank of Lance-Corporal. While at Longmoor, Harden started a Battalion newssheet, which he christened 'The Sandpiper', to which Alun Lewis regularly contributed (see John Pikoulis: Alun Lewis: A Life (Poetry Wales Press, 1984), p. 120).

Ron Willetts met Alun Lewis when both men attended a course in battle strategy at the Intelligence Corps Training Centre in Karachi (now Paklstan).

G. T. Wards served as a fellow officer with Alun Lewis in Karachi (now Pakistan).

T. Griffiths, Swansea, served with Alun Lewis in India.

Opened in 1935, the Regimental Museum of The Royal Welsh, formerly the South Wales Borderers Museum, is located at Brecon and houses artefacts collected from a variety of sources from around the world which display the regiment's 300-year history. The museum changed its name in 2006 following the formation of the armoured infantry regiment of the Royal Welsh. (Wikipedia (paraphrased))

Established in 1964, the Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_(United_Kingdom) (paraphrased)).

The Royal Engineers Museum, Library & Archive is a military engineering museum and library in Gillingham which tells the story of the Corps of Royal Engineers and of British military engineering in general (https://connectingwithculture.com/organisation-details/royal-engineers-museum-library-and-archive#:~:text=The%20Royal%20Engineers%20Museum%2C%20Library,British%20military%20engineering%20in%20general).

W. S. Daniels was a Medical Orderly in the 6th Battalion South Wales Borderers, with whom Alun Lewis served, and was at the time of writing (1981) the Vice-President of the 6th Battalion South Wales Borderers Old Comrades' Association. The two men met in 1941 at Orwell Park, a large mansion near Ipswich which had been taken over for residential purposes by the military.

Founded in 1917, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_War_Graves_Commission).

The High Commission of India, located in India House, London, is the diplomatic mission of India in the United Kingdom. See, for example: https://www.hcilondon.gov.in/.

The High Commission of Pakistan in London is the diplomatic mission of Pakistan in the United Kingdom (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Commission_of_Pakistan,_London).

Bernard Hugh Gutteridge was a poet, novelist, and playwright, primarily known for his war poems. Gutteridge served during World War II in Madagascar, India, and with the 36th Division of the British Army in Burma under Combined Operations alongside Alun Lewis. He also served in the Hampshire Regiment and Royal Sussex Regiment.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Gutteridge).

Colonel Robin S. Cresswell was one of Alun Lewis's former Commanding Officers in the 6th Battalion South Wales Borderers.

Major Ollie (O. A.) Evans, formerly Captain of 'A' Company, 6th Battalion South Wales Borderers, was one of Alun Lewis's Commanding Officers.

Captain William F. (Bill) Perry served, according to his letter, "with No 4 ESBD at Strenshall, York and then with the 588 (Glam[organ]) Army Troops Co[mpany] at Scarborough" during the summer and autumn of 1940. Despite denying in his letter that he ever knew Alun Lewis, Captain Perry is referred to in John Pikoulis: Alun Lewis: A Life (Poetry Wales Press, 1984), p. 109 as a friend of Lewis's while the latter was stationed at Longmoor military camp in Hampshire in 1940.

For Cliff J. Vivian, see indexed references in John Pikoulis: Alun Lewis: A Life (Poetry Wales Press, 1984).
For Geest Holdings Ltd, see, for example: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/geest-plc-history/.

Lieutenant-Colonel Randulph Offley Crewe-Read was one of Alun Lewis's Commanding Officers in the 6th Battalion South Wales Borderers, but commanding a separate company from that of Lewis's.

For Jack Aistrop, see indexed references in John Pikoulis: Alun Lewis: A Life (Poetry Wales Press, 1984).