Master of Ceremonies, Athro Gymraeg o fri, and Wardens Pantomime star Ioan Guile has provided us with this information about his Uncle Eddie Esaias (as it was spelt in the family), who came from Kenfig Hill near Bridgend.
Mr Esaias was stationed in Aberystwyth for a time whilst being trained on the ‘big guns’, as the following extract from the Glamorgan Gazette notes:
Eddie was left with a ‘lifelong tremor’ in his head as a result of the appalling noise of the guns. According to a comment on a Reddit forum, reproduced below, ear protection was not a ‘health and safety issue’ at the time:
“Some hearing protection may
have been used in the navy by gun crews, but in the armies, as far as I know,
even artillerymen generally worked without any protection. I'm not sure that a
study has ever been done on the percentages, but most every combat veteran of
the war I have known was at least partially deaf, and some very deaf indeed. My
own grandfather, who was an anti-aircraft gunner on a cruiser in the Pacific,
reported ringing in his ears off-and-on for the remainder of his life; tinnitus,
I should think. At the time, people probably didn't think much of it. Most
hunters didn't wear hearing protection, and likely for the same reason as
soldiers and sailors: before the shooting starts, you need to be able to hear
at your very best, and there's rarely time to put earplugs in once it's gotten
hot.” (‘Rittermeister’)
For a singer, this must have been
an extra layer of hell to endure. In addition to the head tremor, Ioan
remembers that his uncle may have suffered a degree of deafness as he had to
concentrate very hard on conversations, and his face often looked as though he
had to listen carefully to what was being said.
His voice was also affected, as if he had some kind of restriction
around his ears, which made his voice sound constricted, hoarse or as if he was
pulling back the sound, or swallowing it.
Ioan describes it as if he was ‘speaking inside his head’, as though
constricted inside a tank or pill box, having to shout over the noise of guns
or bombs perhaps? His uncle never spoke
of it, but this was how he had been left for the 25 years that Ioan knew
him. It highlights that, although the
active war years and this project have finite terms, the effects on those who
served were lifelong.
As a side note, the undertaker
business referred to in the second extract above is still extant and in the
family, owned by Ioan’s cousins. Eddie’s
father was also a choirmaster.
I am currently trying to track down
notice of the concert Mr Esaias took part in, as part of a general blog on
entertainment in Aberystwyth in the war years.
It's possible that Mr Esaias was stationed at one of the gunnery points
to defend the radar masts on Constitution Hill, mentioned in Will Troughton’s
blog, although it may be difficult if not impossible to verify who staffed
these huts.
Lynne Blanchfield
SOURCES
Glamorgan Gazette
