To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, Aberystwyth RNLI is appealing for information about a Wren who died at sea in 1941.

The RNLI Aberystwyth has also invited the general public to their annual service of thanksgiving on Sunday, 26 January. It will begin at 11am at Holy Trinity Church.

In 1941 the Yeoward Line British merchant ship SS Aguila sank and 22 members of the Women’s Royal Naval Service, affectionately known as the Wrens, died.

Wren Kathleen Miller, a third officer from Llanbadarn Fawr, was one of those lost on the SS Aguila.

Kathleen, who was 34 at the time, is one of the very few, possibly the only, female from the local community to sacrifice her life on active service in the Second World War.

Now the branch chairman of the Aberystwyth Lifeboat, Mark Morgan, is appealing to the public for information in order to trace relatives of Kathleen or local friends and neighbours who knew the family.

Mark, who served in the Merchant Navy himself from 1969 to 1995, said: “It’s been a project of mine since I took on the chairmanship, I think it was 2011.

“The things that’s always fascinated me, was that the last all-weather lifeboat was called Aguila Wren. It didn’t make any sense. So I did some research and up popped SS Aguila.

“It was a merchant ship, and I was in the merchant navy.

“Digging deeper, I found that one of the Wrens was born in Llanbadarn Fawr, Kathleen Miller. I have actually traced the address where she lived. But I’ve been unable to trace her family.

“We don’t normally name small rescue boats but the RNLI were more than happy for us to continue with the tradition because it’s quite a story. And most people in Aberystwyth probably don’t know the link. I’ve enjoyed doing the research.”

Mark told the Cambrian News that the Wrens who perished in 1941 had all volunteered for naval service in Gibraltar.

Anyone with any information regarding Kathleen or the Wrens who perished in 1941 should contact Mark Morgan at [email protected]

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