Article about: Picked up a few weeks back for a cheap price on my last visit to the antique center in Cardiff. It had not been researched and apart from it being marked to a member of the welsh regiment I
Picked up a few weeks back for a cheap price on my last visit to the antique center in Cardiff. It had not been researched and apart from it being marked to a member of the welsh regiment I knew nothing about it.
Following some research I found out the following;
he was in the 16th Bn the Welsh regiment, the Cardiff City service battalion sometimes known as the 2nd Cardiff Pals or more often as the Cardiff Boys. They were raised in November 1914 to January 1915, he enlisted on January 19th 1915 and arrived in France 5th of December 1915 and would have seen action at Mametz wood when the Bn suffered very badly.
He was later transferred to the SW borderers, probably early in 1918 when the Bn was disbanded and was attached to the 4th Mons Bn, under #47494 for both the Bords and the mons.
He was discharged not long after with a war badge #364303 on 26 april 1918 under Army order 265/17 paragraph 2 Ai, After service overseas in the armed forces of the Crown, on account of disablement or ill health caused otherwise than by misconduct.
Good to have for me as I am from Cardiff and also it was in Cardiff that I purchased it, so all in all a very pleasing addition to my great war medals collection, though I have not so far been able to find out if he was wounded, though it seems likely that he was after reading his SWB roll and also where he was from originally as John lewis is a quite commonly seen name.
Jerry,
Does/did Merthyr come under the Cardiff district? There was a John Lewis on the 1911 census, born about 1877 and aged 34 in 1911. A sort of long shot but the age fits as your John Lewis was 40 4/12 in April 1918.
He was the only John Lewis without a middle name according to the census but it doesn't pin him down.
Jerry,
Does/did Merthyr come under the Cardiff district? There was a John Lewis on the 1911 census, born about 1877 and aged 34 in 1911. A sort of long shot but the age fits as your John Lewis was 40 4/12 in April 1918.
He was the only John Lewis without a middle name according to the census but it doesn't pin him down.
Tony
Interesting Tony as many in the 16th City battalion were not from Cardiff but from the surrounding area and this would include Merthyr, though hard to say with any certainty if this is the correct John Lewis as unfortunately John Lewis is another of those annoyingly common Welsh names!!!
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