Police Constable 255 Leonard NOWELL of Glamorgan Constabulary.Private 120, 1st Battalion Welsh Guards (formerly Private 15067, 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards).
Leonard was from Somerset having been born in Bridgewater on the 1st October 1892, the son of Ernest and Eliza NOWELL.
At the time of the Census of 1901 the NOWELL family was still living in Bridgewater but by 1911 the family had moved to number 1 Chapel Street, Llandaff, Cardiff.On the 21st January 1911 Leonard  joined the Grenadier Guards and was stationed at the Guards Depot, Caterham, Surrey.He subsequently left the army and joined the Glamorgan Constabulary on 29th July 1912 and by the time of the outbreak of WW1 he was stationed in Treharris.It is presumed that he was retained on 'reserve' and recalled to 'the colours' as he became Private 15067 in the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards who, in August 1914, were based in Chelsea Barracks, London.Following mobiliastion, on 12th August, the Battalion paraded at Chelsea then marched to Nine Elms. They then went by train to Southampton from where they sailed on the 'Cawdor Castle' arriving in Le Havre on the afternoon of 13th August.Leonard saw action with the Battalion in the major battles in which they were engaged during the early stages of the war, including the Battle of Mons and the subsequent retreat, and the first battle of Ypres in 1914.Leonard recorded in a letter, a picture of what it was like fighting on the front line when he detailed the death of another Police Officer serving with the Battlalion, PC Thomas EVANS of Merthyr Borough Police.'We advanced through a wood into a ploughed field. When we had gone about 200 yards into the open the Germans opened fire on us with a machine gun. We lay down for 20 minutes then started to crawl back, we got hold of Tom by the foot and pulled him under cover.'Leonard was one of the Grenadiers, and others from Guards Regiments, who transferred to the Welsh Guards when the Regiment was formed in February 1915. They were to take part the Battle of Loos during Sept/Oct 1915 and suffered many losses.It was towards the end of this period that Leonard sustained wounds he later died from. He had previously been wounded in the arm in 1914 at the Battle of Ypres.Leonard died whilst he was being treated by Number 2 Field Ambulance and is buried at Vemelles British Cemetary. Throughout the war medical units used the cellars of a Chateau in the village and a nearby Brewery to operate on the wounded. The cemetary commemorates over 2100 casualties.

Leonard is also commemorated on the Glamorgan Police War Memorial at Bridgend Police HQ.

Otto Grotschel