Jones | William Henry
Biography
William Henry Jones (Service No. 4202922) died of wounds on 1 November, 1944. He was aged 25 and a Private in the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He was initially buried at the Maria Regina Monastery at Stevenbeek and subsequently re-interred on 22 May 1947 in grave III. D. 5 at the Overloon Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery. The inscription on his grave reads in Welsh “Y bore y blodeua, ac y tyf; prydnawn, y torrir ef ymaith ac y gwywa. Psalm.XC.” which translates to “In the morning it flourisheth, and growth up; in the afternoon it is cut down, and withereth.”
Military Career
William is believed to have enlisted in the Royal Welch Fusiliers on 13 June1940. He was transferred to the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry on 18 July 1944. At the time of his death, he was in the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
It isn’t known which battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers he was in, but the 4th, 6th and 7th Battalions served in the 158th (Royal Welch) Brigade assigned to the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division. They took part in the Battle of Normandy at Hill 112 on 10 to 11 July, where the 53rd Division suffered heavy casualties. Due to heavy fighting and casualties in Normandy, some of the battalions were posted to different brigades within the division. Although it wasn’t in the same division, this may have been the cause of him being transferred to the 2nd Battalion of the KSLI. By April 1943, the 2 KSLI were part of the 185th Brigade which included the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment and the 1st Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment. They were part of the 3rd British Infantry Division. The 2 KSLIs, along with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, had also taken part in the D-Day landings and fought in the Normandy Campaign. The 2nd Battalion of the Warwickshires had suffered losses as a result and it was only on 25 August that they had a significant number of reinforcements to bring them back up to full strength. It is possible it was at his point that William was transferred to the 2nd Warwickshires.
Following the failure to take the bridge at Arnhem in Operation Market Garden in late September 1944, the Allied Forces were left in a very precarious narrow salient through the Netherlands.
The Battalion passed into Belgium on 19 September, then the Netherlands at Asten on 22 September. This is to the east of Eindhoven. On 1 October, in drenching rain, they moved north east from there to Malden which is between Nijmegen and the River Meuse. It was the aim of Operation Aintree to widen the salient by heading south from Nijmegen to take Overloon and then Venray before finally eliminating a German bridgehead on the River Meuse near Venlo. Initially, the US 7th Armoured Division was to undertake this task while British forces, including the 3rd Division, would move eastward, across the German frontier, and capture the forest area known as the Reichswald, from which the Germans had been launching counter attacks.
However, by 9 October, the plan changed. An attempt by the US 7th Armoured Division to take Overloon and Venray had lost many men and tanks without making much headway. Field Marshal Montgomery decided that he must postpone the Reichswald attack. He needed to clear the Scheldt estuary to open the badly needed port facilities of Antwerp and the lesser, but also essential, task of eliminating the German forces west of the Meuse. The latter objective was entrusted to 8 Corps, including the 3rd Division. The 3rd Division was to attack south east to Venray, in the hope of drawing off enemy forces while three other divisions prepared to advance eastward to Venlo.
Sgt. George W A Davis later gave a vivid description of the conditions which were to come: “The last good, long, sleep we had was about the 10th or 11th of October. Our clothes were filthy, we were near exhaustion, due to lack of food and sleep. It was very cold and rain and sleet all the time, so we were all wet. There were shells, mortar bombs, machine gunning, Moaning Minnies, rockets and German snipers all over the place.”
Overloon was taken by other Battalions on 12 October. Then from 13 to 18 October the Battalion was engaged along with other Regiments in first clearing woodlands around Overloon of enemy and then proceeding to capture Venray. This involved crossing the Molenbeek which presented a major obstacle to both tanks and infantry. The Battalion successfully achieved its objectives but suffered heavy casualties with 14 killed, 90 wounded and 3 missing.
On 19 October, the Battalion was relieved and returned to Overloon where they remained for a rest period until 25 October. Life there was not very comfortable as the village had been badly damaged by the battle to liberate it. One author described it as “pitifully battered…tiles were spilled from the cottage roofs; ragged shell-holes in the walls of homes exposed a view of a crucifix, a plush armchair, or perhaps a portrait of Wilhelmina.”
A special order of the day was issued on 21 October by 8 Corps Command as follows:- “I would like to congratulate you all on the very fine performance you have put up during the recent operations against Venray. All of you have taken your share in this success, but I must particularly congratulate 185 Inf BDE on the magnificent performance of bridging the beek north of Venray with all the elements against them. In this fighting you have shown grit and determination, and you have gained the knowledge that you are a better man than the enemy. It is probably the first action of a good many of you, and I feel that you have made a great start and have thereby gained my full confidence.”
On 26 October the Battalion took over from the South Lancashires in Venray. A major task over the next few days was to evacuate the very large number of civilians who were still present in the town. The Germans still held the road east of Venray towards Oostrum so there continued to be some shelling. The Battalion remained at Venray for the first half of November, holding this line. Practically no contact was made with the enemy on the Battalion’s front at this time so a certain amount of relaxation was possible. Nevertheless, some mortar and shell fire continued and 2 men were still killed and 10 wounded. It is likely that William was one of these men. He is buried alongside fellow Welshman, Emyr Wyn Griffith, who was in the same Battalion and died the same day.
Family Background
William Henry Jones was the son of John Jones and Annie Jones of Llanynghenedl, Anglesey. This is the southernmost of a series of villages in the north west of Anglesey which feature in this story. They lie just north of Holyhead and Valley and are, from south to north, Llanynghenedl, Llanfachraeth, Llanfwrog, Llanfaethlu, Llanrhyddlad and Llanfairynghornwy.
John was born on 13/7/1886 at Llanfairynghornwy and Annie on 10/7/1892 at Penrallt, Llanfaethlu.
John and Annie had children as follows: Selina Anne born 18/8/1914, Robert Thomas born 10/2/1917, William Henry born 2/11/1919, Hugh born 1/1/1922, George Hubert born 6/2/1923, Madge (Margaret Catherine) born 26/2/1925 and Eluned May born 27/7/1927. All the children were born at Rhos Caw, Llanfrwog and baptised in St. Mwrog Church there. John Jones was generally described at the baptism of his children as a Farm Labourer. Hugh Jones died on 11/1/1922, only 11 days old.
In 1921 John and Annie were living with Annie’s widowed mother, Margaret Jones (nee Ross), at Rhos Caw, Llanfwrog. She had been born in 1865 at Llanrhyddlad and had married Robert Jones (born 1865 at Llanfacraeth) on 2/11/1883. Annie was the fourth of their children who were born between 1884 and 1903. John Jones was working as a Cattleman for Mr E R Williams, Farmer. With John and Annie were their first three children, including William Henry. Present too was Annie’s brother, Robert Jones, born 1886 who was a farm worker.
By September 1939 John and Annie were living at Tan y Fynwent which is a small hamlet just east of the road from LLanynghendl and Llanfachraeth. John was now working as a Quarry Worker. Their three youngest children were with them. George Hubert was working as an under-gardener, Madge as a Servant and Eluned was at school.
Selina Ann had left home and was working and living in as a servant in the household of Robert B and Jane E Rowlands and their child at Bryn Aber, Llanfachraeth. It isn’t known where Robert Thomas was at this time, but it is possible he had already been called up for the Services as a group photo of all the Jones’ children with their mother shows him in uniform.
By this time, William Henry Jones was working as a General Farm Labourer and living in the household of farmer Robert and Nellie Roberts at Rhydbont, Rhoscolyn, Holyhead. Rhoscolyn is just south of Holyhead. An evacuee called Elizabeth Lambert was present, born 20/2/1928 – as were four other unnamed children.
He joined up in 1940.
His grandmother, Margaret Jones of Rhos Caw, Llanfwrog, died on 12/4/1944 so thankfully was unaware of the fate of her grandson in the war.
He sadly died on 1 November 1944, the day before his 25th birthday.
He is commemorated on a monument situated at Ynys Wen Cemetery in Valley. Translated from Welsh, the inscriptions read:
“In Memory of the boys from the Parish of Llanynghenedl who fell in the great war 1914-18
Forgotten they cannot be”
and
“In memory of the boys from the Parish of Valley who fell in the 2nd World War 1939-1945”
Private William Henry Jones is shown as being from Tan y Fynwent.
Aftermath
William’s father, John Jones, died on 3/7/1956, just 10 days before his 70th birthday, His mother, Annie Jones, previously of Rhos Caw, died on 22/1/1959 at 4 Stanley Crescent, Holyhead.
The inscription on their memorial stone in Llanfachraeth Church Cemetery translates as follows:
“In loving memory of John Jones Rhoscaw, he died 3 July 1956, aged 69
Also his beloved wife, Annie Jones who died on the 22 January 1959, aged 67.
‘He himself is so quiet’”
Selina Anne Jones married a farmer, Hugh Jones, in 1945. Selina had two daughters, Margaret and Ann. The family were living at Rhos Caw, Llanfwrog at the time of Margaret’s baptism at St. Mwrog Church in 1946. Hugh Jones, farmer of Plas Uchaf, Llanfaethlu, passed away on 27/4/1960 aged 66. Selina Jones passed away on 13/10/2011 aged 97. She had moved from the farm after her husband passed away but still lived in the village of Llanfaethlu with her two daughters. They left home when they got married.
Robert Thomas Jones married Jane Hughes (known as Jennie) in 1941. Jane was from Llanerchymedd in Anglesey and was 20 when she married. She was the daughter of farmer Robert Hughes but he had passed away before her marriage. At the time of their marriage, Robert’s occupation was described as “Army- Police.” He was living at Tan-y-Fynwent, LLanynghenedl. He later worked in the building trade. They had one daughter. Robert died in 1997 in Anglesey.
George Hubert Jones was a bachelor who lived at Rhos Caw and died in 1987 in Anglesey. Madge (Margaret Catherine) Jones married someone called Robert (Bob) who worked in the Port at Holyhead. They lived in Kingsland, Holyhead and had one daughter. Eluned May Jones married Richard Emyr Williams on 13/10/1951 in Anglesey. He was aged 28 and a Lorry Driver of Cleifiog Terrace, Valley at the time. Eluned died in Bangor in 2003.
The original house of Rhos Caw no longer exists, having been replaced by a modern house some time ago.
Richard Rowlands was one of Will’s best friends. He contacted the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in 1984 to find out where his friend was buried. He made the trip to Overloon from 17 to 21 May 1985, travelling from London to Harwich, then to the Hook of Holland by ferry before travelling on to Venlo then Venray and on by bus to Overloon – and back the same way. He stayed at the Wilhelmina Hotel, Overloon. When Richard died, Kenneth Rowlands, a family member, came across a photo of Will and paperwork relating to his trip and some photos of what looks like the Overloon cemetery. He asked Una Fromel if she knew of anyone in Will’s family. She was able to ensure that they were passed on to Selina’s daughter, Margaret Parry. Kenneth, now 86, has again played a part by drawing Una’s attention to a Facebook post appealing for relatives with a photo of Will to come forward. Margaret also had another photo of Will on her wall which her mother had had coloured. Margaret has now supplied copies of the photos and papers via Una, including one of William in uniform with his siblings and his mother Annie, seated. They are, from left to right, George Hubert, Madge, Robert Thomas (known as Bob), William Henry (known as Will), Selina Anne and Eluned.
