A Family’s Double Tragedy in Two World Wars

Origins and Early Family Life

John Watkin John
Cwmgelli Cemetery, Swansea
credit - CWGC

David Joshua John, born in 1917 in Swansea, was the youngest son of John Watkin John and Sarah (née Charles), who had married in Swansea in 1911. His early childhood was shaped by loss: his father, serving with the Welsh Regiment, 9th Battalion, died in 1918 from wounds sustained during the First World War. He is buried at Cwmgelli Cemetery, Swansea.

The John Family in the 1921 Census

1921 Census

By 1921, the widowed Sarah John, aged 33, was living at 131 Dinas Street, Plasmarl, undertaking household duties while raising her three children: Ronald C. (9), Gwyneth F. (7), and David J. (3). Their circumstances reflected the quiet resilience of a family navigating life after wartime bereavement.

David Joshua John 

News of David’s Death in 1939

On 25 September 1939, the South Wales Evening Post published a photograph of Aircraftman David J. John, announcing his death in action. The caption expressed the deep regret felt in Brynhyfryd and Swansea, noting his education at Plasmarl School and Swansea Grammar School, and his service in the Royal Air Force since 1938. His death came twenty‑four years to the week after his father received the fatal wounds that ended his life following the Battle of Loos, a tragic parallel that underscored the family’s sacrifice. Sarah, now living in Cardiff, endured the loss of both husband and son to war.

South Wales Evening Post

Roll of Honour: December 1939

A further article in December 1939 placed David’s name alongside that of John James Alexander Powlesland, another former pupil of Swansea Grammar School. Powlesland, distinguished for his academic excellence in the classics, had been killed in France on 20 September 1939, becoming one of the earliest local casualties of the war. Their names appeared together on the Roll of Honour, symbolising the loss of two promising young men.

Fairey Battle I

Service with No. 88 Squadron, Royal Air Force

David served as a Wireless Operator with No. 88 Squadron. On 20 September 1939, during a bombing mission to Aachen, his Fairey Battle I aircraft was shot down in flames over France. Despite suffering severe burns, he rescued the observer, Sergeant Everett, from the wreckage and then attempted to save the air gunner, Aircraftman John, only to find him already dead and impossible to lift from the cockpit. The pilot, Reginald Cubitt Graveley, survived and was awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal, later exchanged for the George Cross.

David Joshua John
Choloy War Cemetery, France
cred - findagrave

Burial and Legacy

David Joshua John was laid to rest at Choloy War Cemetery, France. His courage, sacrifice, and the tragic echo of his father’s wartime death stand as a poignant testament to the cost borne by one Swansea family across two world wars.