As people gather at war memorials this Remembrance Sunday morning, the man who speaks up for Wales’ veterans is asking them to remember the husbands, wives, parents and children who stood beside those who served.
James Phillips spent 33 years in the Army before becoming Wales’ first Veterans’ Commissioner. He says this year’s Remembrance message is service, and that it reaches “far beyond those who wore a uniform”.
He said: “It’s about recognising the husbands, wives, partners, parents and children who supported that service. It is about acknowledging the families who shared the burden and often made sacrifices of their own.”
His thanks also go to the people who keep Remembrance going year after year, those who “volunteer, fundraise, support veterans, organise events, sell poppies or simply help ensure the stories of service and sacrifice are never forgotten”.
Cadets beside veterans aged over 100 in Neath
He picked out one recent event. At the Festival of Remembrance in Neath, he said, young cadets sat alongside veterans aged over 100.
He said: “It was a reminder that service spans generations. In a world which can often feel divided, remembrance brings people together.”
Neath Port Talbot’s annual Remembrance festival has made room for forces families before. In 2023 it ran an art competition for children from military families.
From Army colonel to air ambulance trustee
Mr Phillips served in Germany, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq, and retired as a colonel before he was appointed commissioner in 2022.
In Swansea he joined nine Second World War veterans at the Mansion House in July 2024.
Since 2024 he has also sat on the board of trustees at Wales Air Ambulance. He admits he once assumed it simply took people from the scene of an incident to hospital.
He said: “What I quickly learned is that it brings the hospital to the patient. Behind every mission is an extraordinary team of people.”
Veterans, reservists and serving personnel are involved across the charity, according to Wales Air Ambulance, from clinical roles and operational partnerships to fundraising and governance.
Mr Phillips said: “Whether they are delivering critical care, volunteering their time or raising funds at community events, they continue to serve others long after leaving the Armed Forces.”
At home in Tenby, the keen coastal rower regularly sees the crews at work across Pembrokeshire. He said it was “reassuring to know that advanced critical care can be brought directly to people facing a life- or limb-threatening emergency”.
Where to pay your respects in Swansea today
His own Remembrance programme has taken in the Royal British Legion’s Welsh Festival of Remembrance in Newport and national commemorations in Cardiff.
In Swansea the Cenotaph service starts at 10.30am, and the parade leaves Lower Oxford Street at 1.30pm for the Minster. Every Remembrance date and time in the city is here.
Veterans and serving personnel can travel free on trains and First Cymru buses to get there, with cadets also covered on the buses.
He ended with a short message: “Service takes many forms. Let’s remember them all.”
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