Bowls tournament in Barry raises more than £600 for the 617 Group Veterans Charity

A bowls tournament in Barry has raised more than £600 for the 617 Group Veterans charity.

The tournament, in its fifth year, features the town’s five clubs – Athletic, Cadoxton, Central, Millwood, Romilly, plus Sully Sports – and was hosted for the first time by Barry Central.

The teams compete for the Gordon Yeo Trophy, named after a 21-year-old front gunner from Barry, who lost his life in the famous Dambusters raid by Guy Gibson’s 617 Squadron in May 1943, which successfully attacked dams in Germany.

Yeo, the only Welshman to take part in the legendary mission, was on a Lancaster bomber which helped to breach the Mohne dam, but the aircraft was shot down by anti-aircraft fire over the Dutch coast on the return journey with the loss of the entire crew.

Today, the 617 Group continues to keep the memory alive with annual trips to the Netherlands to lay wreaths on the graves of those airmen who did not return.

The one-day round-robin tournament sees all teams play each other, and the final was contested by the top two league finishers, Sully Sports and Romilly, the latter’s late burst of three wins after losing their first two games taking them through.

The final was neck and neck, going to the last shot of the day, with Sully holding their nerve to win by two shots. Sully captain Alan Thomas was presented with the trophy by Group member Penny Francis.