Churches and Chapels > Churchyard at Marble Church, Bodelwyddan
The churchyard at Bodelwyddan is the source of much controversy. It contains the graves of many victims of the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-19 who were based in the nearby Kinmel Park Military Camp. More controversially it is also the burial place for a number of Canadian soldiers who were awaiting repatriation after the end of the First World War. Various stories have circulated over the years about a riot in the camp which resulted in the deaths of five of the Canadian soldiers on 4-5th March 1919. I quote the official Church website.. " a riot occurred in the camp when the ship allocated to return the troops to Canada was diverted to carry food supplies to Russia, and five Canadian soldiers were killed in the disturbances and subsequently buried in St Margaret's Churchyard; a common story is that they were executed for mutiny, but this has been denied by the Canadian Department of National Defence." Whatever the truth of the matter it was a very sad episode for the poor young men who had survived the horrors of the World War only to suffer again in what should have been a place of refuge. For what it is worth the graves are well tended and there is a memorial to the Canadian soldiers.
