The village of Llay was established in the early part of the last century for the workforce of Llay Main Colliery. The 'Main' coal seam was found at a depth of 2,373ft on September 18th 1908 but it would be another 14 years before the first saleable coal would surface in 1922. Two of the factors, which may have contributed to this delay, were the local geology and the onset of the First World War.

On August 7 1913, Llay Main Collieries Ltd was formed with Capt. R. O. Gardner as its first manager. Robert had qualified as a colliery manager in South Wales in 1907 and this was endorsed by qualification as 'surveyor of mines' on the 26 September 1913. He lived in rooms at Home Farm on the Gresford Road with his wife and children.

In 1914 the sinking of the first shaft began. A thick layer of sand and gravel near the surface hampered progress. The solution was to freeze this unstable mass and then to cut through the now solid soil, placing circular steel collars to prevent the unfrozen sand from collapsing inward.

In July 1914 this specialised task was given to a German firm with experience in such matters, the Rheinisch West Falische company. Not long afterwards the invasion of Belgium by German forces led to the declaration of war by Britain on August 4. Unfortunately for the development of the pit, the contract with the German freezing experts was terminated and the colliery manager joined his comrades in B Company of the 3rd Battalion, the Monmouthshire Regiment.

On May 7 the Germans were only two miles from Ypres and on the 8th May Capt Gardner's B company joined the front line at Frezenberg, east of the town. This coincided with a ferocious assault by the Germans and during this Capt. Gardner was killed. The regimental history records that:

'Both battalions were virtually annihilated...but they had put up a splendid fight and B Company of the 3rd Battalion earned special distinction by holding on in the front line...although quite isolated, the troops on both flanks having been driven back. Its stand has been picked out by the Official History of the War as 'among the historic episodes of the War'.

Captain Gardner is buried at Oostaverne Wood Cemetery about three miles south of Ypres. Captain Gardner's wife Amy subsequently moved with their three children to The Vadoc in Llay.

A plaque in St George's Memorial Chapel in Ypres commemorates the 13 officers and 335 other ranks of the Monmouthshires who fell in the second battle of Ypres. On the Frezenberg Ridge, east of Ypres there is a limestone memorial to the 1st Monmouthshire Regiment commemorating the officers and men who were killed on the 8 May.