William Thomas Stephens

 Private William Thomas Stephens – Royal Fusiliers, 43^rd Garrison Battalion

St. Peters church
Burial Register

William Thomas Stephens
St. Peters church
credit - findagrave

Just ten days before the Armistice of 1918, the final official First World War burial at St. Peter’s Churchyard, Cockett, took place on 1^st November 1918.

Private William Thomas Stephens, who served with the Royal Fusiliers, 43^rd Garrison Battalion, died on 28^th October 1918, aged 31. Before this posting, he had previously served with the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment.

William was born in 1887, the son of William John Stephens and Mary Elizabeth Stephens, and was baptised at St. John-juxta-Swansea. Despite his Swansea roots, there appear to be no surviving census entries that clearly document the Stephens family, making details of his early life more difficult to trace.

The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment

Before joining the Royal Fusiliers, William served with the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, a distinguished infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881.

During the First World War, the regiment raised more than 20 battalions, serving on the Western Front, in Gallipoli, and other theatres of war. Known for their tenacity, the regiment endured severe casualties throughout the conflict. Many men from across Britain, and particularly Wales, were transferred into the regiment to make up for losses. William’s earlier service with the Loyals may have been interrupted by illness, wounds, or manpower reorganisation, which later led to his transfer into the Royal Fusiliers’ garrison battalions.

The 43^rd Garrison Battalion, Royal Fusiliers

The 43^rd Garrison Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers was one of several battalions formed in the later stages of the war to provide garrison and security duties. These units were typically manned by soldiers no longer considered fit for front-line service but still able to contribute to the wider war effort.

Their duties included guarding supply depots, bases, and lines of communication, as well as overseeing prisoners of war and maintaining security in rear areas. While not always exposed to the same dangers as combat battalions, garrison troops still faced risks, especially from illness and the severe conditions of wartime Britain.

The 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Private Stephens’s death on 28^th October 1918 came at the height of the 1918 influenza pandemic, often called the “Spanish Flu.” This devastating outbreak spread rapidly across military camps and garrison units, where crowded living conditions and constant movement of troops accelerated infection.

The influenza struck hardest among young adults—the very age group filling the ranks of the army. It could kill within days, often through severe pneumonia. In Britain alone, the pandemic claimed over 200,000 lives, with military hospitals and units particularly affected.

Although William’s exact cause of death is not recorded, it is highly possible that he fell victim to influenza or pneumonia, like so many soldiers in late 1918.

Death and Burial

Army Register of Soldiers' Effects

William died on 28^th October 1918, only two weeks before the guns fell silent on the Western Front. He was buried at St. Peter’s Churchyard, Cockett, on 1^st November 1918, marking the final official First World War burial at the churchyard.

Legacy

Though details of his civilian life remain scarce, William Thomas Stephens’s service with both the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and the Royal Fusiliers places him firmly among Swansea’s wartime dead. His death, so close to peace, reflects the continuing human cost of the war even in its final days.

As the last official First World War burial at St. Peter’s, his grave stands as both a personal memorial and a symbolic marker of the war’s final toll on Swansea.