IN every city, town, village and parish can be found evidence of soldiers, sailors and airmen who served their country during the First World War, writes Gwent Western Front Association.

The most obvious is carried on the memorials of those who never came home, who gave their lives for - as it was then, King and country - and who are buried in military cemeteries in France, Belgium and often much further afield.

Some of those remembered locally may lie undiscovered, or unidentified in plots overseas.

And there are the countless millions who served their country and came home to tell the tale - or to keep the horrors of it to themselves - while resuming their civilian lives.

In one Gwent parish - Goetre Fawr - copious evidence of dozens of men who served during 1914-18, those who survived and those who died, has been researched and collated by Tim Dowle and his a father Richard.

Months of work has yielded a rich historical harvest from memorials in the area's churches and chapels and beyond, telling the stories of those who were residents of, or had connections with Goetre Fawr, and who went to war.

"There is no war memorial. There are plaques in the churches, but unless you have a reason to go in, you aren't going to see them," said Tim Dowle, a native of Goetre Fawr who now lives in Gloucestershire.

Work involved checking electoral rolls and other documents, and cross-referencing names with those on plaques in Saron Baptist Church, St Peter's Church and Capel Ed, and has resulted in a roll-call of 81. Twenty were killed in the conflict.

"It's been painstaking but well worth it," said Mr Dowle, who revealed that four names were discovered less than a week before an exhibition detailing the lives of those involved was held at the Goytre Arms in Goytre.

"Is there an appetite in Goytre for a war memorial? I don't know, but if so, perhaps we should just go for it."

Among those from or with connections to Goetre Fawr who served during the First World War are:

Goytre-born Lance Corporal Frederick Bertram Pinfield, of the 13th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps.

Born in 1881, Mr Pinfield, known as Bert, later lived and worked in Chippenham, in Wiltshire, where his family had moved. A keen sportsman, he was for several years captain of the town's football team and also played cricket and tennis.

He joined the home guard at the outbreak of war, later joining the Army Service Corps. A transfer to the King's Royal Rifle Corps followed in 1917, and he saw action in Arras, northern France, before he was killed by a shell near Ypres, Belgium, in September 1917. He was 36.

William Morgan, born in Goytre in 1892, joined the 2nd Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment - one of the first territorial units to arrive in France - in September 1914. He rose to the rank of sergeant, was injured during the Battle of the Somme, and was discharged in April 1918.

Returning home he married, and worked for a gas company and as an insurance agent. He became a captain in the Home Guard during the Second World War, in which he lost his son Billy, one of his 11 children and a rear gunner with RAF Bomber Command.

Billy's aircraft was shot down during a raid on the German city of Magdeburg in 1944.

William Morgan died in 1957, aged 65.

Arthur Edward Evans MC, of Ty Perllan, Penperlleni, enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery and arrived in France in July 1915. He rose to the rank of sergeant and was later commissioned as a second lieutenant.

Mr Evans survived the war and in January 1919 was awarded the Military Cross for his part in moving guns away from an endangered battery, and shortly afterwards going into action in support of infantry, when he was severely wounded.

His MC citation records that he "displayed great gallantry and remarkable presence of mind in difficult circumstances".

After the war he rose to the rank of sergeant with Cardiff police. He died aged 88 in 1977.

George Dobbs, born in 1893, and younger brother John Dobbs, of Llwyn Celyn Farm, Goytre, were both killed on the battlefields of France.

George enlisted at the war's outset for the 10th (Service) Battalion (1st Gwent) which became part of the 38th (Welsh) Division.

He saw action at Mametz Wood during the Somme offensive in July 1916, and was killed later that month at Courcelles- au-Bois.

John was killed in 1918, aged 18, while serving with the Machine Gun Corps.

Percy Lewis, born in Goytre, an acting lance corporal with the 10th Battalion, South Wales Borderers, was killed on July 2 1918, his 22nd birthday, one of several men to die when a shell struck a headquarters building in Lealuillers, northern France.

Edward Cuthbertson, later promoted to the rank of Brigadier General, was a lieutenant colonel and commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment (Territorial Force), when he was reported as having been wounded at Ypres in May 1915, and invalided to his then home at Goytre Hall, Nantyderry.

The Boer War veteran retired from the Army in 1922 and settled into the role of gentleman farmer. He died in 1942, aged 61.