Elfed Howell – Royal Engineers, 964 Construction & Repair Company

Sapper Elfed Howell – Royal Engineers, 964 Construction & Repair Company

Early Life and Family Background

Elfed Howell was born in 1923 in Swansea, the son of Robert John Howell and Sarah Ann Howell of Bonymaen. Surviving records of his early life are sparse, but he appears in local documentation as part of a long‑established Llansamlet and Bonymaen family.

Military Service – Royal Engineers

Elfed enlisted in the Royal Engineers, serving as a Sapper with 964 Construction and Repair Company. Units of this type were responsible for vital engineering work—repairing infrastructure, maintaining military sites, and supporting operations both at home and overseas. Their work was often demanding, technical, and essential to the wider war effort.

Death and Burial, November 1943

Elfed Howell died on 8 November 1943, during a period of heavy wartime activity for construction and repair units. He was laid to rest at Salem Welsh Presbyterian Cemetery, Cwm, where his grave is noted as the only military burial in the cemetery—a solitary wartime marker in the quiet hillside ground.