A rare German trophy gun obtained by the sister of a soldier from Powys who died during the First World War, has been listed by Cadw in time for the centenary of the conflict's end.

The Garth Gun, one of Britain’s last surviving German trophy guns from the First World War, stands on Twyn y Garth overlooking the Wye valley and the village of Erwood.

For almost a century the 105mm light field howitzer has stood as a memorial to Christopher Williams-Vaughan of Llandeilo Graban, near Builth Wells, and the local men who died in the war.

Christopher's sister, Nessa, later Mrs Lionel Trafford, obtained the gun from the War Office but she was tragically killed in a car accident - thought to be Herefordshire's first fatal one - before the gun could be delivered in 1920.

Yet, her wishes were carried out by the communities of Erwood and Llandeilo Graban, who dragged the howitzer up the slopes of Twyn y Garth and fixed it in place.

 

After decades of exposure to the elements, the gun had deteriorated badly by 1999. However, Painscastle Community Council restored it as a millennium project with the assistance of 6th Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and local craftsmen.

It has now been listed as a rare survival of the thousands of enemy field guns that were once scattered across the United Kingdom in the aftermath of what many hoped would be the ‘war to end all wars’.

Before the First World War centenary observances began in 2014, Cadw had listed almost 240 war memorials across Wales ranging from horse watering troughs to hospital buildings. Many more are in or around listed civic buildings or places of worship. Yet some noteworthy memorials, like the Garth Gun, had escaped designation

As part of Cymru’n Cofio Wales Remembers 1914-1918, the centenary programme of commemoration of the First World War led by the Welsh Government, Cadw launched the Grants for War Memorials in Wales scheme. Developed in partnership with the War Memorials Trust, the scheme has provided funding for the repair and conservation of memorials in almost 50 communities across Wales. Applications will continue to be accepted until March 2019.