A MAN who campaigned for a war memorial for fallen Welsh soldiers has been presented with a British Empire Medal.

Following a visit to Flanders Fields in Belgium, Peter Carter Jones, who has close links with Solva and St Davids, noticed there was no memorial for Welsh soldiers who were killed during the Battle of Passchendaele in the First World War.

When he returned home he set up the Welsh Memorial in Flanders Campaign Committee, which raised more than £100,000 over a three year period.

The finished memorial comprises of four Welsh blue pennant stones from the Craig yr Hesg quarry near Pontypridd, topped with a red bronze dragon designed by Carmarthenshire sculptor Lee Odishaw.

It is accompanied by a dedication slate plaque by the St Davids stone sculptor, Malcolm Gray.

Around 1,000 people gathered in Langemark, Belgium to see the memorial unveiled in August 2014, an event which coincided with the 100th anniversary of the war's outbreak.

Although based near Swansea, Mr Carter Jones spends most of his year in Solva, and served as harbourmaster at Porthclais for eight years, where he remains on the harbour authority committee.

When it was announced he was to receive a BEM as part of the Queen’s birthday honours list in June, he said: “My wife and children are thrilled and very proud, and I really didn’t expect this, it’s a lovely surprise.”

Mr Carter Jones travelled to Brecon Guildhall on Monday, October 26 to be presented with his medal in a service led by the Lord Lieutenant of Powys, Dame Shan Legge-Bourke.

He was accompanied by his wife and his friend, the Mayor of St Davids, Cllr Frank John and the Mayoress, Mrs John.