Josiah Walters – Royal Army Medical Corps, 2nd/4th London Field Ambulance

Private Josiah Walters – Royal Army Medical Corps, 2nd/4th London Field Ambulance

Josiah Walters was born in 1875 in Swansea, the son of Thomas Walters and Mary Morgan. His childhood unfolded in the industrial districts of Mysydd and Hafod, shaped by tin‑works labour, chapel life, and the large, close‑knit families typical of late‑Victorian Swansea.

Family Life

1881 Census

The 1881 Census records the Walters family at 18 Plough Street, Mysydd, where Thomas Walters, 44, worked as a Shingler (Tin), and Mary, 38, managed a bustling household. Their children — Jane, 17; Rees, 15; Margaret, 13; David, 9; Mary H., 7; Josiah, 6; Selina, 4; and Griffith, 2 — reflect a family deeply rooted in the industrial life of the town.

1891 Census

By 1891, the family had moved to Verity Street, Swansea. Thomas, now 54, was recorded as a Tin Man, while Mary, 46, continued to oversee the home. Their children present were Rees, 26; David, 19; Maryann, 17; Selian, 15; Griffith, 12; and William John, 9. Josiah, then in his mid‑teens, was no longer listed, likely already working or living independently.

Marriage and Early Adulthood

In 1898, Josiah married Edith Elizabeth Edmonds in Swansea.

1901 Census

The 1901 Census shows the young couple at 2 Graham Street, where Josiah, 26, worked as a Steel Tube Drawer, and Edith, 22, managed the home with their children Ernest J., 2, and Elizabeth A., 1.

1911 Census

By 1911, the family had grown and were living at 41 Vivian Street, Hafod. Josiah, 36, was employed as a Watchman (Bluestone), while Edith Elizabeth, 32, oversaw their children: Ernest Jabez, 12; Elizabeth Ann, 11; Percival, 8; Selina, 6; and Edith, 3.

Military Service – 2nd/4th London Field Ambulance

During the First World War, Josiah Walters enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving with the 2nd/4th London Field Ambulance — a second‑line Territorial Force medical unit formed from the original 4th London Field Ambulance.

Field Ambulances were mobile medical units, not vehicles, responsible for frontline medical care and casualty evacuation. Their duties included:

• Operating Regimental Aid Posts

• Staffing Advanced and Main Dressing Stations

• Providing stretcher‑bearers, wagon orderlies, and drivers

• Moving wounded soldiers from the front line to safer medical facilities

A typical Field Ambulance deployed:

• 10 stretcher bearers at the Advanced Dressing Station

• 22 stretcher bearers at the Regimental Aid Post

• 22 stretcher bearers at each Collecting Post

The 2nd/4th London Field Ambulance served in major theatres of the war, including France (1915–1916), Salonika (1917), and France again (1918), supporting infantry brigades during some of the most demanding campaigns of the conflict. Men like Josiah worked under constant pressure, often close to the front line, providing essential medical support in dangerous and exhausting conditions.

Josiah Walters
Cwmgelli Cemetery, Swansea
credit - findagrave

Death and Burial

Josiah Walters died on 19 November 1915, during the second year of the war. His body was laid to rest at Cwmgelli Cemetery, where he is commemorated among the early wartime burials of the First World War.