“As we teeter on the brink of war we pray for our young men who may soon be leaving these shores to fight for our King and our country in far away fields knowing that some may never return to Abergavenny and their families…”

These were the words of Rev. William Henry Margetson, vicar of Abergavenny in 1914 as the town prepared to send its fathers and sons off to face the unimaginable horrors of the First World War.

This month, over a century later Abergavenny once again prepares to pay tribute to those men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice in 100 years of warfare.

With moving commemorations planned at the town’s war memorials during the day, Abergavenny’s amateur theatre community under the banner of A4B will be paying its unique tribute on November 11 with an evening of words and music at the Borough Theatre.

Featuring performers from across Abergavenny’s amateur theatre companies, Abergavenny’s Wars - An Evening of Remembrance uses the words of Abergavenny’s war heroes and popular songs from the past one hundred years to show how the town adapted to the rigours of two world wars and other conflicts.

Many of the first accounts of life on the front line are drawn from contemporary reports in the Abergavenny Chronicle as are the emotional stories of those who were left behind.

From the touching tale of six year old Bethel Kyte of Brecon Road of Brecon Road who wrote to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain thanking him for his work to secure peace so her ‘Daddy wouldn’t have to go to war’ to the eye witness accounts of the arrival of German prisoners of war, all are brought to life in words and music as the production traces the history of a town at war.

With popular music ranging from We’ll Meet Again to In the Mood and When the Lights Come on Again, there will be plenty of opportunities for audience members to join in and even some special guest appearances planned for the evening.

Abergavenny’s Wars is written by Chronicle editor Liz Davies with music by Sarah Fowler, who acted as musical director for AAODS’ recent productions of Sweeney Todd and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Performers are drawn from many of the town’s amateur companies including AAODS, Abergavenny Pantomime Company, ASP, Abergavenny Theatre Group, Breakthrough Productions and Forget Me Not Productions all of which make their home at the Borough Theatre.

“There always used to be a Remembrance Day concert at the Borough Theatre on November 11 and after making really successful and enjoyable appearances at the commemorations for both last year’s D-Day commemorations and this year’s VE Day event at the market hall, we decided it was time to bring the concert back,” explained Sarah Fowler.

Abergavenny’s Wars - An Evening of Remembrance can be seen at the Borough Theatre on Tuesday, November 11 and tickets are available now from the theatre’s box office at boroughtheatreabergavenny.co.uk or by calling 01873 850805.