John Henry Thomas – Canadian Infantry, C.E.F., 3rd Battalion

Private John Henry Thomas – Canadian Infantry, C.E.F., 3^rd Battalion

Birth and Family Background

John Henry Thomas

John Henry Thomas was born in 1894 in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire. He was the son of J. G. Thomas and Catherine Thomas.

1911 Census

The 1911 Census is the only known census record for John Henry Thomas. At that time, the family were residing at 15 Norfolk Street, Swansea.
Catherine Thomas (43) headed the household.

Her children listed were Benjamin (18), employed as a porter to a science teacher; John Henry (17), working as a chemist’s shop porter; Albert James (15), an office boy; Annie Mary (13); and Owen Griffith (6), the younger children both attending school. The census reflects a working household in which the older children were already contributing to family income.

Emigration to Canada

Ascania Passenger Lists

In 1913, John Henry Thomas emigrated to Canada, departing from Southampton aboard the steamship Ascania. He arrived at Portland, with his final destination recorded as Toronto.

Military Service

Following the outbreak of the First World War, John enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, serving as a Private with the Canadian Infantry, C.E.F., 3^rd Battalion. The battalion formed part of the 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade, 1^st Canadian Division, and was among the earliest Canadian units committed to sustained combat on the Western Front.

Canadian Infantry, C.E.F., 3^rd Battalion — 20^th June 1916

On 20^th June 1916, the 3^rd Battalion was serving in the Ypres Salient during a dangerous and unsettled period following the Battle of Mount Sorrel earlier that month. Although the main counter-attacks had ended, Canadian units remained in front-line and support trenches, consolidating recaptured ground under constant threat.

German artillery maintained persistent shelling, targeting trench systems, communication routes, and working parties. Casualties continued to occur daily from high-explosive shells, trench mortars, and sniping, even without large-scale assaults. The damaged trench systems and exposed terrain made movement hazardous, and exhaustion from earlier fighting compounded the risks.

It was during this period of sustained shellfire and front-line duty on 20^th June 1916 that John Henry Thomas was killed in action, illustrating the relentless attrition of trench warfare in the Ypres sector.

Death and Burial

John Henry Thomas
Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
credit - findagrave

John Henry Thomas was killed in action on 20^th June 1916. He is buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, one of the principal burial grounds for soldiers who died of wounds in the Ypres area.

His life reflects the path of a young Welsh emigrant who left South Wales for Canada, only to lose his life during the grinding, day-to-day fighting of the First World War, far from home and family