John Henry Spray – Royal Welsh Fusiliers

Private John Henry Spray – Royal Welsh Fusiliers (served as John H. Williams)

Early Life

John Henry Spray was born in 1900, though no surviving official civilian records provide detail about his early life, family circumstances, or residence prior to enlistment. His background remains largely undocumented in the surviving archival sources.

Military Service

John enlisted under the name John H. Williams, serving as a Private with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. It was not uncommon for men of the period to serve under alternate surnames for personal, familial, or administrative reasons, and his military record is preserved under this adopted name. The Royal Welsh Fusiliers, one of Wales’s oldest infantry regiments, saw extensive service during and immediately after the First World War.

John Henry Spray Mynyddbach Congregational Chapel credit - findagrave

Death and Burial

John died on 11 November 1919 in Breconshire, during the difficult post‑war period when many servicemen were still undergoing treatment or demobilisation. His body was brought home to Swansea and laid to rest at Mynyddbach Congregational Chapel, where his grave forms part of the community’s early post‑war military burials.