David Henry Rees (Glanamman)

Scope and Content

Press-cuttings relating to the prosecution of David Henry Rees and others following disturbances during the Crynant Strike (photocopies), undated (c1924); diary of a miners' delegation visit to Russia October-November 1934; explanatory letter and biographical note 1982.

Administrative / Biographical History

David Henry Rees or 'D.H.' as he was often known was born in 1895. From 1917-1918 he was colliery checkweigher at Bettws Colliery. During the 1920s and 1930s he was politically active and in 1936 he was imprisoned in Swansea Gaol following disturbances in Crynant when the Anthracite Combine used blackleg labour to defeat the strike. His health began to declined dramatically from 1937 due to emphesema and he died in 1940 aged just 45.

The archive includes David Henry Rees' diary which records a Miners' Delegation visit to Russia in November 1934. Visits during the trip included factories, schools, hospitals and rest homes, sanatoria, collective farms, workers' flats and a colliery. The delegation visited Leningrad and Moscow and they were in Red Square for the 17th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution.

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