John Oswald Rees – South Wales Borderers attached Welsh Regiment, 24th (Pembroke and Glamorgan Yeomanry) Battalion

 Second Lieutenant John Oswald Rees – South Wales Borderers attached Welsh Regiment, 24^th (Pembroke and Glamorgan Yeomanry) Battalion

John Oswald Rees

John Oswald Rees was born in 1889, in Swansea, the son of John Rees and Rachel Matthews, who had married in 1884, Swansea.

1891 Census

In the 1891 Census, the Rees family were residing at Llansamlet, Swansea. John, aged 38 and born in Cardiganshire, was employed as an Elementary School Teacher, and his wife Rachel, aged 35, was at home. Their children were Maggie, 11; Eva M., 5—both attending school—and John O., 2.

1901 Census

By the 1901 Census, the family were residing at 70 Bethel Road, Llansamlet, Swansea. John, aged 49, was still working as an Elementary School Master, and Rachel, aged 45, remained at home. Their children were Evan M., 15, a Pupil Teacher; John Oswald, 12; and Cassandra E., 6. Also present was a servant, Sarah P. Phillips, aged 18.

1911 Census

At the time of the 1911 Census, the family had moved to Bryn Padarn, Llansamlet. John, aged 59, continued as an Elementary School Master, and Rachel, aged 55, was recorded at home. Their remaining children present were John Oswald, 22, employed as a Coal Exporter’s Clerk, and Cassandra Evelyn, 16, who was still in school.

Military Service

John Oswald Rees served as a Second Lieutenant, originally with the South Wales Borderers, before being attached to the Welsh Regiment, 24^th (Pembroke and Glamorgan Yeomanry) Battalion, a Territorial Force unit. The 24^th Battalion, formed in early 1917 in Egypt from the dismounted Pembroke and Glamorgan Yeomanry, was placed within 231^st Brigade of the 74^th (Yeomanry) Division. After training near Cairo, the battalion crossed the Suez Canal and joined the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, arriving shortly after the First Battle of Gaza. It went on to fight in the Battle of Beersheba (31^st October 1917) and, only days later, in the Battle of Sheria (6^th November 1917), one of the fiercest engagements of the campaign. Following Sheria, the 24th Welsh advanced northwards through the Judean foothills, pursuing retreating Ottoman forces in a series of fast‑moving operations marked by scattered resistance, sniper fire, and continuous skirmishing—actions which helped secure the ground necessary for the later capture of Jerusalem on 8^th December 1917.

Death and Burial

During these post‑Sheria operations, Second Lieutenant John Oswald Rees was killed in action on 8^th November 1917. His remains lie at Kantara War Cemetery, Egypt, a major wartime hospital and burial site used throughout the Palestine campaign