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John William Jones
T/356034, Driver, Royal Army Service Corps
Died of wounds (gas), 31 December 1920, aged circa 61
Buried at the Great Orme’s Head Cemetery
CWGC registered (Husband of Mary Jones, of 4, King’s Rd, West Shore, Llandudno)
JESUS LOVER OF MY SOUL
Whilst Driver John William Jones RASC is not listed in Soldiers Died in the Great War, his grave is registered with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission which gives his widow Mary’s address as 4 King’s Road, Llandudno. His death at the end of 1920 was probably too late to be included on the Llandudno Roll of Honour. Whilst the names John or Jack Jones appear three times on the War Memorial and in the Memorial Chapel of Holy Trinity Church, research shows that these instances apply to others and the specific addition of John William Jones to the War Memorial and to the Marble Tablets in Holy Trinity Church would be appropriate. Sorting out the John Joneses.
John Jones was a very common name in North Wales, probably the most common. The best evidence indicates that the John William Jones of this page was born in Llandudno (though one census return records Welshpool) circa 1859. His early life remains elusive and the first known record is his marriage to Mary Evans (b Ilkeston, 1869) in 1891; their son Edward was born in Conway in 1895. A daughter Edith was born in Llandudno in 1897 and a baptismal register gives the family’s address as 10 Prospect Terrace, Llandudno and John Jones’ occupation as a sailor. A daughter,Emily was born in 1898 and a son John Herbert in 1899. The 1901 Census of Wales records the family’s address as 3 Pen y Ffrith, Llandudno; John’s occupation as a foreman at the sewage works. Daughters Mary, Sarah and Anne were born in 1902, 1905 and c 1909 respectively. The reason why there is a four-year gap between the last two children was because in December 1904, John Jones had deserted his family and gone back to sea and only returned home in January 1909. The Liverpool crew lists record him signing on to the Alcinous in 1906, his previous ship being the Oropesa. Not having contributed anything towards his wife and children (who had lived off the charity of the Conway Union), he was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment with hard labour. In 1911, John was recorded as a general labourer employed by the Llandudno UDC and the family lived at “Bron Berllan Cottage”, Tynycoed Road.
John William Jones enlisted into the Army Service Corps on 2 June 1917. He was employed as a driver and given the number T/356034. John Jones was probably around 57 years of age and considerably overage to join the army. A newspaper advertisement dated January 1917 states that the Army Service Corps was recruiting drivers for mechanical transport of men aged 19 to 50 and passed for Category A (able to perform any service in the army) but not eligible for enlistment. It would appear that he lied about his age. Nothing is known about his army service except that he was gassed and discharged on 12 March 1919 by which time his corps had been prefixed with a “Royal”. He was awarded the Silver War Badge number B257589.
John Jones died on 31 December 1920 aged c61 at the Ministry of Pensions’ Hospital, Bangor. The cause of death was recorded on his death certificate as aortic disease of the heart and syncope though CWGC records indicate his death was as a consequence of being gassed. His body was returned to Llandudno and was buried at the Great Orme’s Head Cemetery.
John Jones’ death certificate confuses the matter somewhat. John Jones’ rank is given as “sapper” (the equivalent to private in the Royal Engineers), his regimental number as 298322 and his age at death as 62. Whilst the variation in age is of little consequence (soldiers often lied about their ages), the rank and regimental number are problematic and are probably explained by there being an administrative mix-up at the hospital. Checking Royal Engineer records for a sapper with a regimental number of 298322 reveals that there was indeed a Sapper John Richard Williams with a number of WR/298322 who had previously served (since 1914) in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and the Northumberland Fusiliers. Sapper Williams was discharged in July 1919 with a Silver War Badge so it is conceivable that his details were mixed up with those of John Jones.
Known memorials:
None
Note:
All the civil records name this soldier as John Jones as do those of the CWGC. However, all the surviving military records give his middle name as William.
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