Howard Morgan Johns – Merchant Navy, M.V. Pizarro

Greaser Howard Morgan Johns – Merchant Navy, M.V. Pizarro

Early Life and Family Background

Howard Morgan Johns was born in 1897 in Swansea, the son of John Morgan Johns and Sophia Phillips.

1901 Census

At the time of the 1901 Census, the Johns family were living at 2 Paxton Street, Swansea, where the household also operated as a grocer’s shop. John Maryan Johns, aged 40 and born in Pembrokeshire, was recorded as a Grocer, while his wife Sophia, aged 35 and born in Carmarthenshire, managed the home and assisted in the family business. Their children were Gwendoline, aged 11; Lucy, 8; Howard Morgan, 5; and Gwilym Owen, 3, forming a young and growing family in the heart of the town.

The Family in 1911

1911 Census

By the 1911 Census, the family had moved next door to 3 Paxton Street, where John Morgan, now 49, continued his work as a Grocer, supported by Sophia, aged 44. The household had expanded considerably, with children Lucy, aged 17; Howard Morgan, 14; Mary, 10; Blodwen Sophia, 8; and Hoyden, 6, all of whom were attending school, together with the younger children Nellie, aged 3, and Millie, aged 1. The census reflects a busy, multi‑generational household typical of small shopkeeping families in early twentieth‑century Swansea.

Service Before the Second World War

1921 Census

By the time of the 1921 Census, Howard Morgan Johns had enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps and was serving as a Staff Sergeant stationed at Baghdad, Mesopotamia. His place of birth was recorded as Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire, a detail occasionally seen in military records where birthplace information varied between parental origins and childhood residence.

1939 Register

At the time of the 1939 Register, Howard was living at 37 Leckford Road, Oxford, where his occupation was recorded as Civil Servant (Resigned), Inland Revenue. His move from Swansea to Oxford reflects the mobility of many former servicemen who sought stable employment in the interwar years.

Merchant Navy Service and the Loss of the M.V. Pizarro

Merchant Seamen Deaths

M.V. Pizarro
credit - wrecksite

During the Second World War, Howard Morgan Johns entered the Merchant Navy, serving as a Greaser, a vital engineering‑room rating responsible for lubrication and machinery maintenance deep within the ship. According to Merchant Seamen Deaths, Howard—by then of 32 East Street, Osney, Oxfordshire—lost his life following the sinking of the M.V. Pizarro on 31 January 1941. At the time of her loss, the Pizarro was sailing in convoy bound for Gibraltar, and when approximately 700 miles west of Bishop Rock, she was torpedoed and sunk by the Italian submarine Dandolo. The attack was sudden and devastating, leaving little chance for those aboard. Howard’s death occurred during a period when merchant ships faced constant danger from U‑boats and Axis submarines, and when engine‑room personnel were among the most vulnerable during such attacks.

Howard Morgan Johns
Tower Hill Memorial
credit - Benjidog Histroical Research Resources.
The Merchant Navy Memorial

Commemoration

With no known grave but the sea, Greaser Howard Morgan Johns is commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial, London, where his name stands among those of thousands of Merchant Navy personnel who gave their lives during the war. His story, spanning Swansea, Mesopotamia, Oxford, and the North Atlantic, reflects the wide‑reaching service and sacrifice of British merchant seafarers in the twentieth century.