William Frederick John Morris

Private William Frederick John Morris – Prince of Wales’s Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment), 2^nd Battalion

The Yutz Est Old Cemetery, in Moselle, France, contains only four military burials from the First World War — among them is that of Private William Frederick John Morris of Oystermouth, Mumbles.

Early Life

William Frederick John Morris

John Morris and Lucy Huxtable
marriage certificate
St Paul’s Church, Herne Hill, Camberwell, Southwark

William Frederick John Morris, known as Fred, was born in 1891 in Oystermouth, the eldest son of John Morris and Lucy Huxtable, who were married in 1890 at St Paul’s Church, Herne Hill, Camberwell, Southwark.

1891 Census

According to the 1891 Census, the Morris family were living at 33 Gloster Place, Mumbles. John (25) was employed as a Butcher, and his wife Lucy (25), originally from Devon, managed the home. Their infant son, Frederick, was just three weeks old at the time — though his full registered name was William Frederick John.

1901 Census

By the 1901 Census, the family had moved to the Butcher’s Shop at Westbourne Place, Oystermouth. John (35) was running his own butcher business, assisted by Lucy (35). Their children were Fred (10) and Doris (6).

1911 Census

A decade later, in the 1911 Census, the family were still at 12 Westbourne Place, Oystermouth. John (45) continued to run his own shop, with Fred (20) working as a Butcher’s Assistant in the family business, and Doris (16) still living at home.

Military Service

When war broke out in 1914, Fred Morris enlisted in the British Army, initially serving with the Welsh Regiment before transferring to the Prince of Wales’s Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment), 2^nd Battalion.

The 2^nd Battalion South Lancashire Regiment had landed in France in August 1914 and remained on the Western Front throughout the war. By 1918, it was serving with the 89^th Brigade, 30^th Division, as part of the Second Army in Flanders.

That year, the battalion was engaged during the German Spring Offensive, suffering heavy casualties in defensive actions, and later took part in the Allied Hundred Days Offensive, advancing eastwards through northern France and Belgium. The men endured fierce combat, gas attacks, and constant movement in what became the final, hard-fought months of the war.

Death

Private William Frederick John Morris was wounded during operations in 1918, in the final phase of the war. He was taken to the Niederjeutz War Hospital (in what is now Yutz, Moselle, near the Franco-German border), where he died of his wounds on 2^nd June 1918, aged 27.

Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects

The Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects confirm his death under his full name, William Frederick John Morris.

Niederjeutz War Hospital

During the First World War, Niederjeutz (Yutz) was located within German-occupied Alsace-Lorraine, a key strategic area close to the front lines on the Moselle. Several German military hospitals, known as Kriegslazarette, were established there to treat both German soldiers and Allied prisoners of war.

Historical accounts suggest that one such hospital was located near the monastery or castle on the northern edge of Yutz, which served both as a military hospital and as a headquarters post. The facility likely treated wounded soldiers brought back from the Western Front, particularly from fighting in northern France and the Ardennes.

The presence of a small number of Commonwealth graves in the nearby Yutz Est Old Cemetery — including that of Private Morris — indicates that some Allied prisoners or wounded men died while under treatment in these hospitals and were buried close by.

Burial

William Frederick John Morris
Yutz Est Old Cemetery
credit - cwgc

Private Morris was buried at Yutz Est Old Cemetery, where he is one of only four Commonwealth servicemen from the First World War interred there. Although his name appears on a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone, the exact location of his grave within the cemetery is unknown.

About Yutz Est Old Cemetery

After the war, when Alsace-Lorraine returned to France, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) identified and maintained the graves of British and Commonwealth soldiers who had died in German hospitals in the region. The Yutz Est Old Cemetery remains a small but poignant reminder of those who fell far behind enemy lines and whose final days were spent in captivity or under medical care.

Legacy

Private William Frederick John Morris was the beloved son of John and Lucy Morris of Oystermouth, where the family’s butcher shop once stood in Westbourne Place. His loss was deeply felt within the local community — one more name among many that reflected the cost of the war to the people of Mumbles.

His name is commemorated on the memorial of the former Methodist Church, Mumbles, alongside those of other local men who gave their lives in the First World War.

Through this memorial, and his resting place in France, Private William Frederick John Morris is remembered with honour — a young man of Mumbles who served faithfully and died far from home, his sacrifice forever part of the village’s proud legacy of service and remembrance.